Hostile Takeover
by WraithLoverQueen
Summary: With the elder god gone, there is no one holding the strings of power in Nosgoth, causing problems for Kain. He has to deal with a newly materialized Raziel and the annoying appearence of non-native humans entering Nosgoth. His last nerve is close to snapping when one of the new humans actually becomes a threat to Nosgoth. Adult themes, No slash
1. Prologue

A/N: Little story I thought up.

Disclaimer: I don't own the LoK series but I do own Sayumi, Sestine, the city mentioned and any OCs that happen to pop up.

Hostile Takeover

Prologue

Hidden deep within a forest beyond the mountains laid a large castle, bathed in moonlight and crawling with various ancient vegetation. In one of the notches of the highest castle battlement facing the north, sat a lone female figure. She played a lonely tune on her pan flute as she stared out into the night sky, watching a large group of pure black bats passing in front of the moon and heading towards her castle. As it got closer, the little female on the battlements lit up the alicorn on her forehead like a signal beacon as she continued her song. The large black wolf that lay on the floor next to her sat up and began to howl as the bats got closer, as if to announce their arrival.

"Kain, any news?" The lunacorn female asked as the bats gathered together and began to form a humanoid-looking creature.

"No such word, Sestine…. How is Sayumi? Has her search fared better?" Sestine shook her head and climbed off the battlement to stand next to the vampire lord.

"No, since you two now live outside the gasp of history, Nosgoth no longer sees you within the realm."

She is correct….." The vampire and the lunacorn turned their heads to look where the sudden voice had come from to see a little sickly looking eight-year-old with an alicorn and two pairs on wings on her back, "As the physical embodiment of Nosgoth, I should be able to see every creature roaming my realm but I cannot see you or Raziel unless you are in from of this physical form…" Little Sayumi said solemnly as she slowly walked towards them, seeing orb in hand. Kain let out a mix of a sigh and a hiss between his fangs as he crossed his arms and Sayumi took a seat next to him on the battlement ledge.

"It has been a month since I put together a new body for him and we called forth his soul from the Reaver, but alas, many a terrible thing could happen in such a time." Sayumi whimpered out the words softly as she began to tear up, "I am sorry, Kain, I have failed you after you two have done so much to save me and my creatures…" Kain snorted and dropped down into a kneeling position before her, gently wiping away her fallen tears with a crimson claw; it always amazed Sestine how oddly gentle Kain became around little Sayumi.

"Worry not, Sayumi, there was no way for us to know that the soul transfer spell would go wrong and actually teleport him away. The fault does not fall on you," He cast a glace to where Sestine sat on the rump of her wolf, "or even Sestine for that matter. All that matters is that we find Raziel before something happens to him…" Sayumi sniffled and nodded.

"You are right… The new body I have given him has many problems…"

"What kind of problems?"

"Much like one of Kain's fledglings, he won't remember anything of his previous lives but unlike a fledgling he'll be fully human for a while and shift into a fledgling vampire with all the powers he had as a wraith…" Kain and Sestine were slightly shocked to hear this news, thoughout the entire month that Raziel had been missing they trio had been too busy looking for him for Sayumi to tell them this.

"If Raziel is human and without memory than he could be in grave danger…!" Sestine exclaimed, pulling at the hem of her long flowing sleeves.

"But every creature wishing to kill Raziel has only sent him back to the Underworld, could he not simply come back."

"Not necessarily, Kain, since he is now currently human he could be killed and sent to the underworld permanently. Which we can't have since we need his help to face up against the coming threat against me…" Sayumi whispered in a soft voice before coughing slightly. Kain was about to speak up when he was cut off by the sound of a barn owl's shrill cry ringing through the air. The trio of humanoid creatures cast their gaze on it as it flew down to land on Sayumi's shoulder.

"What is that?"

"A messenger. I sent them out in order to look for Raziel's location." Sayumi gently pet its moon-shaped face with a finger, "Go on, little one, what news do you bring us." The owl quickly replied with a series of clicks and sharp cries, the message making a look of shock and disgust appear on Sayumi's face.

"Oh Sky King above…" She quickly snapped her head up to look Kain directly in his golden eyes, "Kain, I know where he is! You must go to him and quick, the humans are treating him most foul in his weakened state!"

"Where is he and what have the humans done?"

"He is in a remote city not far from here called Xalruga and they are using him in a human trafficking cabal!" The very thought filled Kain with even more disgust for the human race and made his luke-warm blood boil.

"I will go to the city and fetch him; it is obvious he has yet to regain his vampiric powers which means he will need time to ready himself for the coming problems." The girls nodded to the vampire lord as he jumped onto the battlement's ledge.

"Kain, I have enchanted your earing so that we can contact you through Sayumi's seeing orb and if need be you can contact us by the command word: Xalthu." Kain nodded and reverted into the swarm of bats to travel to the city.


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: Chapter 2 not that anyone cares. Just a heads up: I don't write slash, I just write something that so close it's disturbing.

Chapter 1

Kain's bats lighted down in a dark corner of the city near the building that the Reaver was pulling him to, it knew its counterpart was there and wanted it. The vampire lord cast an illusion spell upon himself to appear as a human noble before stepping out into the cobblestone street and heading for the inn that the cabal held their meetings. His urgency made his step faster and the travel time far shorter than it would have been. He entered the inn and was disgusted by the amount of drunken nobles and city officials that sat in the main room, each with a filthy-looking strumpet of female or male variety on their laps or lying at their feet. Unable to look at the horrendous sight any longer, he sought out the benefactor of the inn turned brothel; he quickly sighted the over-weight man sitting at the dining table before the large fireplace. It was the creature next to the grubby little man that really caught Kain's eye; a young man that looked to be in his late twenties with milky white skin and silken blue-tinted black hair. The boy's face was downcast but Kain could feel that it was what he was seeking as he walked up to the table.

"Greetings, fair noble! May I interest you in some entertainment this fine evening?" The jolly pot-bellied man asked Kain as he stuffed his face with mutton. Kain wanted nothing more than to frown and snap the man's neck but luckily Kain was very good at hiding his emotions.

"Yes, I am interested in this little creature here…" The vampire lord said as he passively motioned a hand towards the boy with the black hair, making the man frown and the boy to raise his head; Kain felt a surge of pride at the look of pure defiance and hated in the boy's cloudy eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry sir, but this pretty little one is reserved. Perhaps I can interest you in-"

"No, I will only settle for this one." Kain pulled a small pouch out of his pocket and dropped it on the table, making the benefactor's widen and glow with lust; it was amazing what an illusion spell and a bag of flat stones could do to a greedy human, "And perhaps this will change your mind…"

"Oh! Oh, thank you, sir! It's a pleasure to do business with you." The man quickly grabbed the sack of fake coins and prodded the boy's shoulder, "Go on, son, earn your keep." Despite the command the boy refused to move, making the grubby man angry and causing him to strike the boy's cheek but still the boy refused as the red mark formed on his pale face.

"My apologies, my good sir, he's a stubborn one."

"No worries, I am more than capable of taking him myself."

"That is good, sir, I am sorry for his behavior. A room is free on the upper floor if it is your wish."

"Very good." With this, Kain simply picked up the boy and threw him over his shoulder to carry him to the room where he could check him over for injuries.

~H~T~

Kain slammed and locked the door before walking over to the bed and dropping the boy on it to get a better look at him. The boy fell backwards and let out a strangled cry, the sound being stifled by the leather collar wrapped tightly around his throat. The cry wasn't from fear but from pain, Kain didn't like that little fact considering that he had dropped him rather gently. He watched as the boy ground his teeth to get past the pain before relaxing again and trying to catch what little breath the collar would let through. Kain figure the reason for the collar and the shackles holding his hands behind his back was because he put up a fight.

"Raziel, we must stop this little habit of being used that you have…" He said flatly as the boy glared up at him, the look quickly turning to shock as Kain removed his illusion spell. The vampire lord bent down and brought his claws close to Raziel's throat, making the boy flinch and try to move away but Kain pressed his other hand to his first born's chest. He silently slipped the hooked tip of his claw under the leather and pulled up, snapping it; the sudden ability to breathe making Raziel release several hacking coughs. The boy looked at Kain and opened his mouth to say something but no words came, his throat damaged from the collar. The vampire could see panic slowly start to form in Raziel's eyes, resulting in Kain doing something he would not have normally done if Raziel were himself; he sat down on the bed next to him and began to gently massage his first born's damaged throat in a soothing manor.

"Raziel, I know we have our differences and you still harbor hate for me but after all that you've done for Nosgoth these filthy humans have no right to do to you what they've done." Kain was not looking forward to what he had to next now that Raziel finally start to settle down and trust him a bit, "I am sorry Raziel but I must check for injuries that you've sustained in the past month." He saw the panic fill his fledgling's eyes as he started to unbuckle the boy's belt, Raziel tried to move his bound hands but to no avail; to tired and beaten down, the wraith-turned-human simply admitted defeat lie still for Kain. Knowing that Raziel's hurt pride and what little honor he had left for Kain would stop him of ever speaking of this once he was back to normal gave Kain an opportunity to be kind and gentle he wouldn't normally take, but he needed Raziel to relax in order to help him. His fledgling let out a scared and pained whimper as the vampire lord slowly down his trousers to access the damage that had be done in order to know how to care for him for his time being as a human. Raziel turned his head away, face flushed blue with embarrassment and self-disgust while Kain scowled at what he saw; his first born's hips and upper thighs were badly bruised and his genitals bruised and bound by a small leather strap. Raziel stiffened as Kain moved to remove the strap so the vampire lord gently massaged Raziel's bruised hip and side in a soothing manor to help relax his fledgling through the process. The deed was finished seconds later and his pants pulled back up quickly but gently after.

"Do not worry, Raziel, I am here to help you, not hurt you further…" Kain reassured him as he gently lifted him up by placing a hand to the small of Raziel's back with one hand while the other hand snapped the pathetic excuse for a chain that held together Raziel's shackles. The vampire lord was in the process of laying him back on the bed when a pained look passed over Raziel's face and Kain thought he felt something move under the skin of the small of Raziel's back. It took but mere moments for Kain to realize what the movement was; Raziel's vampiric wing mutation was preparing to happen to quickly for its master's body to prepare properly. Now Kain was a bit worried, such a mutation required months of sleep and vampiric healing abilities to just make it through the sheer pain of the process and now Raziel had neither of those; the pain alone from the wings trying to get free could kill the little human. Kain was pulled back to reality by Raziel trying to use his arms, which were weak from lack of use, to try get up. He could only watch as the tired figure finally gave up after a few failed tries and simply laid on the bed, waiting for Kain to do whatever he wanted to him. The vampire lord move to sit against the headboard of the bed and gently pulled his tired and unresisting fledgling into his lap before he started to remove the manacles from around the boy's wrists. Raziel looked up at Kain with confusion in his eyes as the circles of metal clattered to the ground and the vampire lord looked down to see ice blue blood leak from the wounds Raziel's wrists. The boy let out a surprised gasp as Kain suddenly grabbed one of his damaged wrists and brought it to his mouth. Kain began to gently lick the wounds, using his tongue and saliva to clean the blood away and move the damaged skin to the best position to heal with human abilities before moving to the other wrist.

"You should rest; we have a long and hard travel ahead of us." Kain told his first born as he gently laid him on the bed, careful to avoid touch his back where the wings were forming inside. Raziel didn't move from where he was laid but used his eyes to ask Kain where he was going; sadly it was a vampire that had treated him the best out of all the men he had been sold to and was now worried that he would leave and another would come.

"Worry not, Raziel, I shall return and we will leave. Sayumi wishes to meet you in person." Kain reassured him as he softly rubbed a claw over Raziel's black lips and then the black markings under his eyes, making sure the tired boy drifted off to sleep before heading for the door.

~H~T~

With his illusion spell up, Kain walked down the stairs and headed over to the brothel benefactor, who still had no idea that Kain's money was fake.

"Ah, greetings again, good noble."

"Greetings…." Kain growled out, rather irritated.

"I don't see the boy with you…."

"He is sleeping." At Kain's word the benefactor stood up and grabbed the leather belt that lay at his side.

"That ungrateful wretch! I shall teach him a lesson for being so insolent!"

"You shall do no such thing, filth!" Kain growled as he forcefully slammed the man back into his chair, "Now tell me, was there a dirty brown cloth with white markings found with the boy." The benefactor was feeling rather scared by the "man" before him and could only nod stupidly.

"Good, fetch it for me and I shall be taking the boy with me."

"I'm s-sorry, sir, but h-he's not for sale….! H-he's my best s-seller, far prettier than the rest."

"I could tell by the markings I found on his body but I care not about your filthy business." The vampire lord removed his spell, gathering scared gasps from everyone in the room, and placed cloven foot against the benefactor's throat, "I am taking my fledgling and his clan symbol. Now fetch it for me and you disgusting creatures shall be spared, I do not have time to waste on dirt such as the likes of you." Kain hissed in his faced and man broke down into tears as he motioned for one of his prostitutes to bring Kain Raziel's clan flag. The little female quickly brought it and gave it to Kain, fear in her eyes the whole time. He sneered in disgust a the lot of them as he snatched up the ancient cloth and headed back upstairs. He had to get Raziel back to the castle in order for Sestine to help him through the painful mutation.


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: Now I don't know if anybody actually reads this story besides the two members on my listings(one faved and the other is a watcher, I thank both of you. ^^ ) but I like it so I will continued to write it whether read it or not. Though some R&R would be nice and up lifting but I'm not gonna bug you about it. ^^' So anyway, sorry this is late, been super busy lately. But I hope to get this story on the road soon. Also, I may be needing your guys' help with making desicions soon so when the time comes please speak up even if to just flame. ; ; ...Have a good read! ^^

Chapter 2

Raziel awoke to the feel of soft bedding below him instead of the coarse, scratchy sheets of the filth infested inn he was forced to work. He felt dazed and confused, eyelids too heavy with sleep to open them so he could only feel his surroundings. He was lying naked on his stomach but at a weird angle, it felt like he had pillows under his stomach; something that had been done to him before to get him into a better position for his buyer to take him, but it didn't feel like that was the case this time considering he had very little anal pain (from his "appointment" before Kain) and there was a blanket over him for privacy. His only pain was the discomfort from the bruising on his hips and the strange recent pain in his lower back; he had come to think that it was from the harsher treatment he got compared to his fellow "workers" but had never brought it up in fear of a punishment for no reason. Though, something was wrong now; here he was in a strange position, in weird and comfortable surroundings but he couldn't remember a thing from the night before! What had happened to him? He forced his eyes open and got a blurry look around; he was lying on a king-size bed with satin bedding, the contentedly warm comforter draped slightly over his hips but didn't brush painfully against them. Raziel used his weak arms to slowly try and push himself into a sitting position but suddenly stopped at the feel of someone touching his arm gently.

"Raziel, you shouldn't move just yet, your body needs time for Sestine's potions to take effect and heal you…" A deep blue blush spread over Raziel's pale cheeks at the sight of Sayumi standing there next to his bed, rather embarrassed about being only wrapped in a blanket in front of the eight-year-old looking spirit unknowing of her being his ancient home realm. The wraith-turned-human gulped painfully with his damaged throat as the little female spirit sat down gently on the bed next to him, coaxing his body into relaxing back onto the pillows by massaging his battered hips with her soothingly cool hands.

"Who are you and why are you doing this? I do not understand what is happening, have I done something wrong to be given such false treatment of kindness…?" Raziel whimpered out softly as Sayumi gently continued her massage, even rubbing her fingers soothingly over the small of his back where his wings would soon be released from.

"I am Sayumi and you have done no wrong, Raziel, in fact you have done all of Nosgoth a very favorable deed. You simply cannot remember it, though we are working on remedying that." She told him softly as she pulled the blanket up over him, her touches making him drowsy once more, "You need your rest for the transformation that your body will be going through soon… I am truly sorry to say, that because of how your new body has formed, you will have to be awake for the release of your wings…" In the back of Raziel's mind he knew that that was a bad thing but he was far too sleepy for his brain to grasp the subject or question what she had just told him. He started to drift off as Sayumi put out all but one of the torches lit by purple fire before she left Raziel to his strange new nightmare about a disfigured blue creature and giant green squid with many eyes.

~H~T~

Sayumi made her way down the corridor from Raziel's room to one of the main halls of the castle to see Kain and Sestine studying a map of Nosgoth on a large wooden table. She smiled softly as she gazed at the pair of two of her most loyal protectors and their strange predicament. Kain stood tall with arms crossed as he stared down at the map, completely ignoring Sestine; the petite lunacorn was kneeling atop the hardwood table to actually be able to see the cartography parchment.

"So, what is the severity of damage to Nosgoth that you're estimating…?"

"I'm not entirely sure, Kain, but the constant decay of the Pillars is in turn causing the barriers in the north, east and west," Sestine pointed to each direction, "to crumble. With each piece of the barrier that falls something can push through…"

"Push through?" The vampire lord raised an eyebrow to further illustrate his inquiry.

"Yes." The lunacorn sat back on her bent legs, "Kain, in the times when the Ancient vampires roamed freely and my race was happy and thriving there were many other races."

"Then where are they now…" The vampire was dead serious. Sestine could only sigh.

"Kain, for one who has traveled through time you should REALLY learn your Nosgothian history…." Sestine could only sigh, "Some were banished beyond the barrier because they posed a threat to the livelihood of Nosgoth while others fled beyond the barrier to save themselves from the near extinction of their species brought on by the humans…" She paused and the two ancient creatures simply stared at each other. The two shared a silent maelstrom of emotions about the fact that both their races had suffered a fate much the same from the hands of the humans who let themselves be ruled by their greed for power, land and the resolve to service a false god. With an uncomfortable flip of her green streaked hair, Sestine turned back to the map and continued.

"But now, years later, the barriers are breaking and the races are starting to slip back through again and bringing countless problems with them. So far the Pillars have protected Nosgoth from the changes in the outside world but now that things are coming through that could endanger the very livelihood of all Nosgoth we are entitled to cast out the returning races and restore the barriers." She pulled slightly at the bustier of her gown as she waited for him to say something; it was a nervous reaction of hers when she was around him for long periods of time, she hated the strange heat that flushed her lavender skin for no reason when they were silent for too long.

"These other races could bring diseases here that we are not used to and it could harm the already fragile balance we have achieved as of late… We must rid our home of them." Kain growled out gruffly as he dragged a claw along the path on the map to one of the barriers, "How much longer before the barriers shatter completely?"

"I cannot see them but I feel they are close to the breaking point." Both vampire and lunacorn looked up quickly, neither had noticed Sayumi come in.

"Sayumi! …How long've you been there?"

"For some time, Sestine but that is not important. I came to tell you that Raziel is asleep; when he awakes his wings will be to the point where they need to be extracted. The little spirit walked over to the table and climbed up onto one of the heavy chairs, careful to avoid banging up her wings while she gently held her seeing orb in her lap. Kain walked over to her as she waved a hand over the orb bringing up a clouded image on a snowy mountain side.

"Say, what is that?" Sestine asked as she crawled across the tabletop to sit on the edge next to Kain.

"This is the mountain, Thulgoth, it holds the barrier to the north. Though there is something strange about this barrier, it feels as if it protects something than just holding back other races." Kain didn't like the sound of watery snow having to touch his skin but such things were hard to avoid, as his thoughts drifted along this line Sayumi brought up another image; a Cliffside with a cave and runes carved into it, "This one seems the most problematic… I feel very little magical energy trying to break it down; instead it feels as if a strange advancement the realm outside it…" Sayumi looked up at her two guardians and frowned.

"We mush hurry and find a way to uphold the barriers before they are too far gone and end up damaging the Pillars." Kain grunted as Sestine nodded, they were about to say something when they were cut off by the sound of a pained cry coming from the back corridors.

"Raziel!" The three exclaimed instinctually and rushed for his chambers.


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: Ok! Chapter 3 is up! We're finally getting somewhere here! First, I want to thank Akumu Kagami for reviewing, means a ton to me. ^^

Next order of business, I don't really know what to say. XP Just read the chap an' hopefully you like it. ^^

Chapter 3

The three entered the chamber to find Raziel kneeling on the ground with his blanket wrapped around his waist; his arms were wrapped around himself with his nails digging into his sides near his lower back. His eyes were clenched shut in pain and the group could actually see movement from under the flesh on his back, agonized pants and gasps coming from him as he tried to force himself through the pain. The sweat that gave a sheen to his back made his silky black hair cling to it as he tried to pull himself into a tight ball; completely oblivious to those watching him. A sudden gasp was let forth from his throat as he felt someone lift him, he looked up with wide terrified eyes at the frightening vampire lord that was carrying him back to the bed.

"W-what's g-going on…?" The words were barely a whisper, Raziel's poor damaged throat straining to get the words out.

"Worry not, my son, it'll be over soon…" Kain told him gently as he sat upon the bed and placed Raziel gently astride one leg as to not damage anything further. He softly rubbed his claws against Raziel's throat in soothing touches, he would never admit it but loosing Raziel so many times had made Kain realize that somewhere deep (deep) down he loved his firstborn very much and now was the only time he could give his long hidden fatherly love without Raziel mocking him (he would go back his grouchy, demanding self once Raziel was better), "This will hurt a great deal, Raziel, your wings are coming too early and must be dealt with." Raziel looked up with constricted eyes filled with confusion as he mouthed the word "wings?" Kain was about to explain when they heard Sestine, who had left the room, come rushing back in and head for the bed as Raziel let out another pained cry. His sob quickly subsided to a pathetic whimper that he couldn't help yet felt pitiful for making but none of that mattered as the pain was so intense that he really didn't notice what an awkward position on Kain he was in and actually leaned into the vampire lord for comfort. He flinched as Sestine gently took hold of his shoulder as she stood behind him, coaxing his limp body into leaning back against her small frame.

"Shhh…" She whispered softly in his slightly pointed ear as she let him lean on her while she wrapped an arm around to his front and gently forced his mouth open before putting a vial to his lips. Even with his brain foggy with pain his body tensed and he tried feebly to pull away; he had been forced before to swallow some vile liquid to make him livelier in bed.

"Raziel, relax…" She rubbed the mouth of the vial gently against his lips, "I made this liquid myself, it will ease the pain and let you get through this." Raziel seemed to physically relax at her soothing words drifted over his brain and he let his head lean into her shoulder as he swallowed the liquid. It bubbled down his throat and made heat surge through his body as his muscles, making him go limp again as the potion worked its magic. Sestine laid him back against Kain who quickly brought an arm around him and laid a claw on his lower back before looking up at Sestine.

"Are you sure about this, woman?"

"Sadly, I'm positive…" The little lunacorn replied and Kain only grunted at her as he brought a claw over the spot of Raziel's back where the wing was trying to get out. Raziel had his head resting against Kain shoulder and couldn't get his muscles to move, his brain was even foggier now with the potion numbing it but he still feel the horrific pain of something slicing into his back just about where his normal pain was and he couldn't help the agonized cry that slipped from his throat because of it.

"Shh, shh, it's alright, Raziel." Sestine said soothingly as she petted his head gently, she was trying to avoid looking at where Kain was using his sharp claws to rip a gash in Raziel's lower back that was big enough to pull the wings out from where they were growing within, "It'll be over soon. Can you move the muscles in your back for me?" She got a sluggish nod in reply, that was a good sign it meant her potion work; she had enchanted it so that it numb most everything but his neck and wings. The gash was large enough now and Raziel let out another cry as Sestine stuck her tiny fingers into it and grabbed hold of the rib of the wing.

"Raziel, try and focus on where I'm touching and move that appendage, please." She smiled up at Kain as she felt the wing; she guided it with her hand but Raziel was the one that had to maneuver it out of the wound. It took about three minutes just to get that one wing; Raziel was exhausted from forcing his numb body to work and the loss of blood he was experiencing so the free wing simply lie limply against his side, he didn't even have the energy to fold it up. Sayumi came over and began to take of the wound as Kain and Sestine worked on the other wing. That one took longer because Raziel was barely coherent by that point and wasn't helping them much, by the time it was out and they were taking take of the second wound he had passed out; both blood covered wings hanging limply from his back. Kain gently gathered him up before standing and laying the sleeping human on the bed then wrapping the blankets around him more. Kain liked the rest of the blood off his claws as he turned to the girls who were washing their hands on a damp cloth.

"The worst is over. If his wings had grown anymore they would have damaged something internally…" Sestine nodded at his words as she looked at the mentioned wings; they were about two feet long each at this point but had been folded up tightly within him so there shouldn't be any damage but she was still worried, for a creature his size the mutations would grow much larger and would have killed him if left in.

"Raziel is safe and we should let him rest, there are other matters we need to atte-!" Sayumi's words were cut off as she felt a pain in her chest and a dizzy spell came over her; she would have fallen if Kain hadn't caught her gently with a hand.

"Sayumi, what is wrong?"

"Kain, can you not feel it? The barrier, it is broken, I am losing balance!" The words hit Kain and Sestine hard as they realized the symbolism of the spirit's dizzy spell as she collapsed into her guardian's arms.

"Sestine, I must find out what has happened, watch after them."

~H~T~

A human female in her mid-twenties stared up at the dark Nosgothian sky in awe, it looked strangely different yet the same as the one over her home in California. She let out a joyful cheer before rushing back to the caravan of military trucks that she had come with; she didn't know where she was, just that this new land (or should she say old land) felt very enchanted, dark and magical. She rushed over to her anthropology professor, a man in his mid-fifties, and jumped up and down in excitement.

"Professor Cartrite, this land, its beautiful!" Her professor just smiled up at her from the runes on the wall he was studying.

"Yes, my dear. We're were very lucky to get that funding." Back in California, the good professor had had a theory that somewhere hidden in the Yosemite National Park was a cave with a portal that was the gate way to an ancient realm that was blocked off from the rest of Earth when the world was still young. That in that realm would be many amazing scientific discoveries, he didn't think anyone would believe him but his young student, Alpine, had. After that, an extremely wealthy man had come to them saying he believed their story and would love to fund an expedition. Professor and student had jumped at the chance and the quest for knowledge was on! Now they were here, in a land they knew nothing about with a small science team and a large team of military men to guard them; hired by their benefactor, Mr. Runekin, who had come along for the ride or so they thought.

Alpine felt giddy with excitement as she looked back up at the sky and forest around her while the professor went in search of more runes, she wondered if there were any people left here and what kind of animals there might be.

"Alpine! Come look at this!" She snapped to attention and rushed over to where the professor was now standing. He was staring up at a beautiful and ancient mural; it depicted the cave they had just come out of and there were tall, blue humanoid-looking creatures with large black wings putting runes into place around the cave with the help of tinier humanoid creatures with horse tails and alicorns.

"Oh wow! It's beautiful! …What is it, Prof.?"

"I have no idea, my dear. My best guess is that some ancient race of natives are trying to explain this cave by showing their deities putting it up…."

"Why do ya say that, Prof.?"

"Because, love, no creatures like this ever existed so they must be some sort of god to these people…."

"Oh…" Alpine stared in awe at the mural; it was simply amazing and in such detail... The team of humans from the realm of Earth had no idea what they were getting themselves into...

~~~~A/N: Ok, you all are probably wondering why I took this road with the story and I'll tell you. Now that the Elder God is "gone" there's probably no one else in Nosgoth that could really give them a problem or would ever think about giving them a problem. So we need new, extremely stupid people that know nothing about the vampires that plague Nosgoth and what better peoples than Californians! (I'm from California, it's ok for me to make fun of us...) Anyways, if you don't like where the story is going, I'm sorry. ^^' I don't mind if you leave, almost no one's reading it anyways... ^^'

P.S. If any of you wanna see what Sestine, Sayumi or Raziel's new human form look like just tell me and I can send you a link to my DevianArt account.


	5. Chapter 4

A/N: Whoo! Chapter 4! *ducks so she doesn't gets hit by stuff from her Stargate/Doctor Who/Torchwood readers* Anyways, hope you guys enjoy this chap not much happening. The story's still in the walkthrough phase where I figure out what goes where to get to the end. I'm so grateful for the reviews. ^^ Hey, if you guys have the time and want to review give me a heads up on what parts you like, what you'd like to see happen (it might come true if it doesn't interfere with the plot), if something doesn't make sense or if you wanna comment on where the story's going. ^^ I'm all ears! Also, there's a little one shot tag to this story on my main page if you feel like reading something short.

Chapter 4

"Xalthu." The key word was hissed from Kain's lips as soon as his cloud of bats reformed on the strong branch of a tall tree. There was a light tingling in his ear from the ring as he heard Sestine speak to him.

"Kain, is there something you need?"

"Sayumi said that the barrier that broke was to the west correct?"

"Yes, why?"

"There is a foul smell on the wind from the north east, one that is completely of unknown origin…"

"What kind of smell?"

"The stench of fire and brimstone."

"Kain, there are no volcanoes to the northeast…"

"Do you think I don't know that, woman! Can Sayumi see anything?"

"No need to snap, Kain! No, it is all foggy but we believe that it is a renegade creature from the other realms. She can't seem to see the Banished Ones…" This made Kain growl and grind his fangs together, "Kain, leave the broken barrier for now, you have to go see what that smell is; it could be very damaging."

"Indeed… I'll go look but while I'm away, have Sayumi send her scouts to the west."

"Leave it to me, Kain." With her reply the magical link between them was broken and Kain shifted his direction to the northeast before shifting back into a cloud of bats. He did not like how this was going at all, everything just seemed wrong.

~H~T~

Sestine sighed and slid down from the large stone throne she was sitting in, she didn't fancy herself a queen but it just felt _right_ to sit on the large chair that Kain tended to claim for himself. Her footsteps were softened by her little silken flats as she padded down the dark corridors of her castle, she ran a hand along the wall; feeling the elegant engravings against her tiny fingertips. She had walked these halls for so many years that she knew them all memory but every little swirl in the stone amazed her. She suddenly shook her head, she was getting side tracked and she had a job to do. Sighing, she hitched up the long train of her white off-the-shoulder gown and raced down the hallways to where she knew she would find Sayumi; caring for Raziel in his room. She was close enough that it took but a few moments to reach her destination and not leave her panting for air. She slowly opened to the door to find Sayumi singing an old Nosgothian lullaby in a long dead language as she ran her fingers through the silky black hair of a sleeping Raziel.

"They deserve someone nice, do you not agree…?" Sestine was slightly taken aback at the sudden fact that the spirit was talking to her, she hadn't thought she had been heard coming in.

"W-what do you mean?"

"My two loyal protectors… They deserve a nice female to spend their time with…" Sayumi replied as she looked up at Sestine while Raziel wince as the spirit traced a pattern in his hair with a finger, "It is the law of nature, for males and females to be together, and I would know that law the best don't you think…?"

"Why of course, Sayumi, you are mother nature: Nosgoth herself. But not all creatures actually mate, just look at humans and what does that have anything to do with right now?"

"Humans are always going against nature and oh nothing much… After all, they have all the time in the world as do you," Sestine blushed and hoped to get the little spirit to just drop the subject, "But now, Sestine, is they something you need from me?"

"Yes, I had just received a message from Kain. He is off to see what the trouble in the northeast and would like you send out your night scouts." Sestine was fidgeting with the piece of cloth on the front of her dress that hung from her belt as she watched Sayumi rise from the bed.

"Why of course, Sestine. I'll get right on it." The words were spoken softly as they walked from the room and down the corridor, heading towards the section of battlements that Sestine liked to spend her nights waiting for Kain.

"Sayumi… What were you doing to Raziel? He looked very uncomfortable…"

"Showing him his lost memories, by getting his wings his body is more quickly taking back his vampiric properties and is able to be shown his true self." Sayumi flapped her four wings and flew atop the battlement next to Sestine before sitting down. She blew a whistle into the air around and mere moments latter a large flock of night birds came to her.

"There is trouble to the west, I want you to check it out and report back to me…" The birds screeched in reply before taking off, "Sestine, we should go and find some parchment to keep track of chat creatures have passed through already.

~H~T~

Alpine was collecting plant samples in the forest as she watched her professor go over the many murals and inscriptions, many of the words were in an extremely old language but quite a few were in English too; which they found strange. Her thoughts came to a stop as she picked a weird looking fruit; she could hear someone talking to her professor. She leaned against a strong old tree as she listened in, wondering if they had found anything interesting.

"Professor Cartrite!" It was Colonel Harding, leader of the military men they brought with them.

"Yes, ma boy?"

"You'll never guess what our scouts found!"

"Hmm… And what would that be?" His lack of caring could be clearly heard in his voice; he really didn't care about the military's interests.

"A small city! It's amazing, there's still people to be found in this land!" The colonel could get very excitable but now the news had excited the good professor too.

"What? A city? That's amazing, wonderful! We must go there at once and meet the natives, perhaps they will tell us about this beautiful land."

"I've already set up a team. Get your aide and we'll head out, it'll be morning soon anyways." With that, the colonel left and Professor Cartrite got to his feet, dusting off his trousers.

"Prof, did I hear that right? There's a city?"

"Yes, my dear. Now hurry and grab your things, we must be off!"

It took about two hours to walk to the small city; they had seen many strange things along the way, such as burnt bodies mounted on spearheads. Though the walk was worth it, the city was amazingly run down and decrepit looking; much like many medieval villages on earth. According to the weather-worn sign off to the side of the entrance the city was called Xalruga and oddly there were no people in the guardhouse at the entrance. The group shrugged it off and headed in, making their way down the dirt streets when it started to rain suddenly. There were moans of annoyance and grumbling coming from the small group of six as they tried to get under an overhang and out of the rain.

"Prof, I don't know for sure but I think that's an inn over there…!" Alpine called, trying to make her voice louder than the increasing downpour. The men of the group looked at where she was pointing to see a rundown building with a hanging wooden sign that read "Rabid Worg Inn".

"I do believe you're right, my dear."

"Really, you two? I hope you're both joking aren't really that stupid, of course it's an inn! Now let's go!" The rain was making Colonel Joshua Harding a very grumpy person and he wanted to get somewhere warm and dry. The little group quickly rushed down the street to the inn and slipped inside. They were by worried stares but as soon as the people saw they were only humans they clearly relaxed and went back about their business.

"Greetings, travelers!" The call came from an extremely fat man who was coming to greet them.

_'He must be the inn keeper…'_ Alpine thought to herself as she looked around, starting to feel rather uncomfortable as she realize what was happening between the people in the main room of the inn.

"No sense of shame, eh?" The female captain, a beautiful African-American woman and Alpine's best friend, next to Alpine whispered in her ear as she noticed also. Alpine could only nod as disgust made her mouth so dry she couldn't talk. The two looked towards their leader to see he was talking to the innkeeper as he led the group to a large table by the fire.

"Come, sit! Rest and enjoy yourselves; we have food, drink and entertainment!" The group nervously took their seats, this seemed too good to be true.

"We are sorry if we worried you earlier, travelers." The man apologized as some of the more clothed female prostitutes brought the food and drink to the table, "We were afraid that perhaps you were vampires trying to get in from the rain." The statement had all six of the earth team staring dumbfounded at him except for the colonel, who had just done a spit take with his ale.

"What? You're kidding, right?" Now it was the innkeeper's turn to look surprised.

"No, of course not. This city is not plagued by any less vampires than other cities, if anything, it might have more because we're so remote…"

"But that's insane!"

"W-why do you say that, good sir..?"

"Be-because vampires! They don't exist!" The exclaimed statement ceased all sound, except for dishes falling from stunned hands, in the room as all the Nosgothians stared in shock at the Earth colonel. Keeping her eyes on the natives, Captain Farrah "Foxie Boxie" Foxglove whispered into Alpine's ear.

"Girl, I do not think we're in Kansas anymore…."

A/N: Foxie's a kick boxer and Alpine made up the name for her after a funny quote they saw on the Simpsons.

P.S. I was wondering... Should I be a jerk and take away Raz's wings or let him keep them...? I can't decide. You guys pick. ...I think I'm too mean to characters I love... *wraps homemade Razielim scarf around my neck* ...What, I really did make one.. you can see it on my DA page...


	6. Chapter 5

A/N: Ugh... Yeah. This one's a tad bit longer and actually had a tough time writing this because my cold is making my brain sluggish which makes it hard to write. So, sorry if it's not very good, also tell me if something's messed up in it. I'm so tired I can't really concentrate on going through the whole thing. ; ; Kinda gets into the plot more too. Tell me what you guys think. oh! And Raz get's to keep his wings! Whooo~! *hugs him tightly* ^^

Chapter 5

Kain's bats lighted down on the edge of a Cliffside that overlooked a massive trench where the rancid stench was the strongest. The vampire lord gagged slightly as the smell filled his nose and left a terrible taste in his mouth; sometimes heightened vampire senses were more of a hindrance than a help. The trench itself bothered Kain as he dug his claws into the earth below his feet and leaned over the edge of the cliff to get a better look. For the life of him, he couldn't remember a trench being in this particular part of the northeast in any of the timelines he had been to.

His well-trained eyes were of little use against the deepness of the trench because through all the darkness he could only just barely see a red glow at the bottom. The air seeping from the massive scar in the earth was hot, making his lungs feel heavy and uncomfortable. Hissing out the bothersome air, he unhooked his claws from the ground and stood; there was only one way to check it out. He was about to jump off the Cliffside when a roar of epic proportions sounded out of the trench, it was followed a massive winged reptile that was accompanied by a heightened splash of molten magma. Kain's golden eyes grew wide in shock; he had never seen a creature of such magnitude and knew right away that it has a great claw in the unbalance of the world; it would have to be taken care of. Kain was arrogant in his powers, always had been always will be but in his old age he had also gained wisdom. A wisdom that told him he could defeat this monster but not without sustaining heavy injuries that would take time they didn't have to heal. The vampire lord was no fan of running from fights he could win but this was one time he would have to swallow his pride for the good of Nosgoth. As he watched the creature fly through the darkened clouds, Kain stepped backwards and started to slowly shift into bats again as to not attract attention to himself as he made his tactical retreat. He would head back to Sestine's castle where they could map out their next course of action with all the information they had.

~H~T~

Sestine watched as Sayumi slumped into the padded arm-chair in the corner of her large library; the dim purple fire barely lighting the room. The lunacorn smiled softly, she loved taking care of the little spirit; it was like taking care of the child she had always wanted but never could have because her race didn't exist anymore…

"Hello…" Sestine jumped at the sudden flat-sounding voice behind her. She quickly turned around, with a hand to her chest to even out her breathing, to see Raziel standing in the library doorway holding up the sheet wrapped around his waist.

"Oh, Raziel, hello!" She greeted him cheerfully, winning herself a suspicious look. This was no longer the weak and scared human Kain had brought with him from the inn, no this was a cautious and battle-word wraith spirit trapped in a new human body.

"You, you are Sestine, correct?" Sestine quickly nodded and stepped back so he could step into the stone-walled room.

"Yes, I am! Please, come, sit, Raziel. Your body must still be weak." She led him over to a comfortable chair and grabbed a cushioned stool for herself to sit on. Raziel walked over to the chair and slowly sat down, healing muscles in his back stiff and pained but also had to be careful his wings which he was no longer used to maneuvering with. Once sitting, he watched the giddy lunacorn practically jumping on her seat; he did not know this creature formally he simply knew her as Kain's kind friend that cared for him.

"You remember my name… So, does that mean you remember everything about this past month as a new human…?" Sestine seemed rather uncomfortable asking the question but not nearly as Raziel, who's cheeks had flushed a slight blue against his will.

"Unfortunately, yes… After all that I have done, I fall prey to lowly pathetic humans…!" The hate-filled words were growled through slowly sharpening teeth. Sestine looked down at the toes of her shoes as she wrung her hands nervously.

"I am sorry, Raziel…" Raziel cast her a confused look as she continued to wring her tiny hands with each words she spoke.

"Whatever do you mean? From what memories I can recall that correspond to this timeline, you have done nothing but help my recovery…"

"Well, yes, I have tried but it is my fault all that happened to you… I did not look into the spell enough to know that when I cast it, it would end up teleporting your new form somewhere away from us…"

"This is of no fault of yours; such miscalculations have a tendency to happen when things are done that should not have been. Such as I was not supposed to be released from my self-imposed prison but the deed was done anyways, so do not blame yourself for things not in your control." The surprisingly friendly words were quite welcome and made Sestine's heart soar. She smiled brightly at him, the purple fire on the torches made her lavender skin shimmer as she suddenly jumped to her feet.

"Oh, thank you, Raziel! I feel so much better. But now, first things first." She smiled again and scratched her head, "You need some proper clothing! I got just the thing, Sayumi designed them for you. Wait here!" Sestine rushed off down the dark corridor, her little feet padding against the stone. Raziel could only stare in wonder after her as he tried to relax into the chair; it had been so long since he had last had a body that could truly feel such things, the fire in the fire place was making him drowsy again.

"Raziel, wake up." He hadn't realized it but he had fallen asleep in the chair while Sestine was gone and she was now shaking him lightly by the shoulder. His golden eyes blinked open and he looked up at her, she was holding a bundle of clothing in her arms.

"Wake up, these clothes are for you." Raziel stood and took the clothes, nodding in thanks. He placed them on the chair and slowly unfolded them; the first was an open-breasted tunic that was made of a blue that matched his wraith form's skin, black leather pants that closely resembled his old ones where the only difference was the padding on the outer thighs, and the last thing were thin bracers only covered the top of the hands and the outer arms.

"All the clothing are made with specially enchanted fibers that are nearly as strong as metal yet very flexible. There are holes in the back of the tunic that wrap around the base of your wings and tie underneath, the padding on your trousers are made of a large amount of the fibers to block blows and the bracers are made of a heavier and tighter woven fibers to help block blows also." Sestine informed him as he slipped on the pants under the cover of the sheet before dropping the unneeded bedding and lacing up the front of the pants. Raziel could sense Sestine walking behind him as he slipped on the tunic, his body tensed involuntarily as she gently grasped the rip of his wings and his brain flashed back to the day Kain ripped the bone from his winged.

"Relax, Raziel, I simply need to move them out of the way to check your wounds…" Sestine's soft words coaxed his brain to relax his muscles but only just a bit. The lunacorn gently maneuvered the nearly full grown appendages, they had grown quite a bit while he slept, so that they were in a position that it was easy for her to check the wounds the wrap the tunic piece around the bases of the wings. As soon as she was done she quickly stepped back from him and saw his body ease.

"Now that you're awake, would you like something to eat? This human body needs normal food and I have just made some dinner for myself and Sayumi." Raziel nodded as Sestine went over to awaken Sayumi, "Kain has been gone two days now, he should be back in a few more if nothing has gone wrong."

~H~T~

The team sat up in the filthy inn room as they waited out the rain; dinner and conversation had been very strange and now the earthlings feeling very uncomfortable.

"I vote mass hysteria." Foxie mumbled as she sat cross-legged on her jacket, not wanting to touch the floor of the disgusting room; they all felt dirty just sitting in there.

"Mass hysteria? Where an entire land believes vampire and demons are trying to kill all the humans. It sounds a like a horror movie…." Josh said as he and Alpine sat down on either side of her.

"Guys, this place's disgusting…" Alpine added her two cents as she picked at her damp cargo pants.

"You kids these days complain too much. This city is a piece of history in the present!"

"We got the picture, Doc."

"Josh, don't be mean to him."

"Sorry, but something just seems off here! I mean we come to th-this realm! And it's plagued by so called vampires and demon and heaven knows what else! Do you guys get the feeling that the Doc's mysterious benefactor might have something else planned for this trip?" The questions drew strange looks from the other members of the tiny team before the thought started to settle in.

"Ya know, Foxie… Josh gots a good point, the dood did just kinda come out of the woodwork…"

"Now Alpine, you shouldn't talk this way about the man that has paid for our research…"

"Sorry, Doc." Alpine sighed as she and Foxie leaned against each other, they couldn't wait to get out of this building once the rain stopped. The very thought of what those disgusting people had probably done in this room let alone all the others.

"Let's get some sleep, you kids, I want to check out the land around the city and see what's about." There was a chorus of groans in reply, even from the well trained military personal.

~H~T~

"Mr. Runekin, sir, we're ready to set out when you are."

"Thank you, Colonel Mathgu." A tall man with slicked-back short hair and wearing an expensive suit smirked his reply as he petted the worn tome in his hands. He was so close to finding the Ever-Kin diamond….


	7. Chapter 6

A/N: Ok, back again. I can just feel the readers for my other stories getting ticked off at me! But for some reason I just love writing this fic...! Anyway, this chap's pretty much filler far as I can tell but hopefully it's entertaining filler, unlike Naruto filler... *shudder* Ok, so the first part of the fic is pretty much just a welcome back to Kain and a look into how Sestine's mind works. So, sorry about that. Also, I'm still new at battle scenes so if the one in this chap REALLY sucks then I'm REALLY sorry. This one took forever to write so I hope you enjoy. ^^ It's 5 AM here and I haven't slept all night because I was finishing this chap. ^^' So good night... Also! A big thanks to my two reviewers! It really means a lot to know you guys are actually enjoying this fic. ^^ *lots of hugs*

P.S. Sorry, if anything's messed up. Super tired, too tired to look it over so tell me if I need to fix something. ^^ Happy reading~!

Chapter 6

Sestine hummed as she lay down in Kain's large chair, it was by far the most comfortable and since he wasn't around who cared. It was often she got to relax by herself anymore but since the castle was empty except for her and Wralyx, she had all the relaxation time for herself. She was still humming as sleep began to overcome her and she was more than willing to be taken by it.

"Would you like to explain why you're sleeping half-naked in my chair, witch?" The sudden sound of the voice surprised the lunacorn so much she jumped and ended up falling off townhe seat, her near see-through night-gown riding up a bit. She quickly scrambled to her feet and used her arms to cover up what the gown didn't; she lavender cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

"Kain, you should warn a person before you come and yell at the them! You scared me out of my wits!"

"And your clothes, appearently….." He moved passed her and sat down in the chair as Sestine glared at him.

"Oh, very funny, vampire…" She rolled her eyes before looking him up and down, "My, My, don't you look frightful. You look as if you haven't a drink of blood in ages…" Completely forgetting about her own problems, she crawled up on the arm of Kain's chair to get a better look.

"Indeed, there was a surprising lack of victims along the way…" Sestine seemed to beam at this news as she jumped off the arm of the chair again.

"Lovely, then my gift to you won't be wasted!" Kain raised an eyebrow at the tiny lunacorn as she twirled around happily.

"Gift…?"

"Yup!" Sestine replied before spinning around towards the door then brought her fingers to her mouth and whistled loudly, making Kain flinch slightly because of his sensitive hearing. They soon heard the sound of whimpering, claw clacking against stone and something being dragged. Followed moments later by the sight of Sestine's large wolf, Wralyx, dragging two full grown men that were chained together.

"Sestine, I thought you detested my eating habits…" Kain stated as he sized up his victims-to-be.

"Oh, I usually do, Kain. But vampires must eat too and these two deserve it.." Sestine glared at them as she took her seat again, the pathetic men were crying and pleading to her and Kain, "They raped a young girl in the woods near my castle and were about to murder her… So, I stopped them and brought them back here as I sent Wralyx to take the girl back to her village with a note telling her parents what had happed." She gave the men her most evil grin, "So I thought I'd give to you because I thought you might be thirsty…." Kain was on his feet in a second and was holding one of the men by the throat in the next one.

"No matter the account, the continued stories such as these about your kind disgust me…" Kain growled in his face before not even giving the man a second to scream before sinking his fangs into the human's throat. Sestine watched cruel satisfaction as the other man became a lousy blubbering mess as his brother's blood was splattered on to him while Kain drank his fill. The vampire lord let the corpse fall to the ground next to its still living kin before delivering a swift kick to the broken man.

"That is enough for now." Kain was satisfied and went back to his chair as he wiped his mouth.

"Wralyx, sweetie, please take this filth back to the storage room." Sestine chirped and the wolf howled happily before dragging the other man off.

"So, Sestine, where are Sayumi and Raziel?"

"Out training."

"Training?"

"Yes, Sayumi is retraining him with his wings."

"They are functioning then?"

"Oh yes, his wounds are all healed."

"How? I've only been gone five days and the wounds were deep…"

"Yes, but over the first four days Raziel completely morphed back into a vampire!"

"Really…?"

"Oh yes, and the greatest thing has happened."

"What?"

"He has totally bypassed the fledgling phase despite looking like one. He has all his abilities and powers from when he was a wraith, just like Sayumi planned."

"Good. He will need them…"

~H~T~

"I don't believe this!" Josh growled out as he and his little sat down on a fallen log in the vast forest, "First we get stuck in that disgusting inn for three days because of the torrential rain and now we're lost in the forest all because the path was blocked!" Alpine sighed and tried to smooth out her curly brown hair which was turning frizzy because of the wet air.

"Man, Josh, I never knew you military types grumbled so much." She pulled her jacket closer and shivered, "Now, stop complaining, we gonna find a way back to camp."

"She's right, Josh, complaining ain't getting us nowhere…" Foxie let down her ponytail, her hair was getting as bad as Alpine's.

"You're using double negatives, dear." Professor Cartrite corrected, making everyone roll their eyes. Josh was about to say something in reply when suddenly a loud roar shook the earth below their feet.

"What on earth was that?" Alpine yelped as she and the rest jumped to their feet, she dragged the professor behind a tree to hide as the other grabbed their guns. Mere moments later a ferocious creature broke through the tree-line and into the clearing they were in; the beast looked like a double-headed black timber wolf with barbed tentacles coming out of its back and stood about fifteen-feet-tall. The bull horns coming out of its head glowed a bright red and the wolf's fangs dripped acid.

"Oh god, that thing's massive!" Foxie exclaimed as she raised her gun.

"Maybe it'll be friendly…" An angry roar.

"I don't think so, Josh!" The breast roared again and leaped towards them, forcing the military personal to open fire.

"It's not working! Our weapons aren't hurting it!" Foxie yelled to her commanding officer and friend after several minutes of trying to hit the creature but only resulting in the rounds bouncing off its hide. Things were looking bleak for the small team as the creature reared up and howled in anger, glaring at them with glowing eyes.

"Well, guys… It was nice knowin' y-!" Josh was cut by shock as something suddenly slammed into the beast, making it yelp in pain, "What the heck was that?"

~A few Moments Before~

The damp air and being up in the darkening sky gave Raziel a strange sense of being at ease as he stopped in midair, his powerful wings letting him hover there. Sayumi swooped down next to him, smiling up at him as she hovered alongside.

"Raziel, you are doing very with your wings, as if you had flown with them since you got them the first time."

"They are a great asset indeed." For the first time in a long time, he smiled whole-heartily at her. Sayumi was about to say something when the sound of a roar was picked up by their sensitive ears; it was coming from the forest below and she could heard human cries.

"Raziel, someone is in danger, we must help them!" The wraith-turned-vampire gave her a strange look as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"What for? They are but lowly humans and have brought this upon themselves…."

"No, Raziel. Something is wrong, I can hear them but I cannot feel them. Both the humans and whatever is attacking them is from the Otherside." She gently grasped his hands and looked up at him pleadingly, "I know that you hate the humans and with good reason but please, save them, for me…" Raziel looked down into the beseeching eyes of his home's spirit-form, Sayumi must have known that he would do anything mother Nosgoth asked of him.

"Fine, I will rescue them from this creature…" The words were growled out.

"And do not attack them, I would like to speak to them first…"

"What! No, I refuse to let you near those creatures, if anything were to happen to you then all of Nosgoth would fall into chaos!" Sayumi sighed at this and rubbed a thump-tip over his claw-like fingernails.

"Please, Raziel, let me speak to them… You won't have to say a word to them and anyways what could happen with you there to protect me?" It was Raziel turn to sigh as he nodded in agreement. The two looked down as they heard strange sounds followed by the beasts angry called, seconds later Raziel was folding his wings in and diving towards the monster. Within minutes he slammed into its back at full force, knocking it to the ground as it let out a yelp. Sayumi was close behind but turned to the side before she got to the fight and landed in front of the humans with the strange weapons.

~H~T~

The team gasped in shock as the little creature lighted down in front of them, they raised their guns but Josh quickly raised a hand to stop them from firing as the thing greeted them.

"Greetings humans." She sounded sweet and looked to be no more than eight-years-old.

"Ugh…. Hi, there…" Josh replied cautiously as he looked her up and down to assess the threat, there seemed to be none; she just looked like an eight-year-old with a horn and two pairs of wings, one bird and the other bat.

"I am Sayumi, it came to my attention that you were in danger so I took the liberty of having my guardian help you," She pointed at where a young looking man was beating the crud out of the monster, "in exchange for sharing a talk with you." The earthling looked at one another at this point in surprise, she talked really well for being eight.

"Hi, I'm Colonel Josh Harding and this is my team. Ugh… Nice ta meet ya, Sayumi… What's going on" He greeted and asked as he watched the little girl walk over to the log and sit down.

"Come, relax with me and call your friends in the trees over." She patted the log, "Worry not about the creature, Raziel will take care of it…" Foxie and Josh looked over to where the monster was struggling in its fight against the winged man.

"Josh, we couldn't touch that thing but he's taking it out like a pro… We better be careful about this pair, the girl seems harmless enough but that guy might be a problem…" Foxie whispered in Josh's ear as they were joined on the log by Alpine and Professor Cartrite to watch the battle.

"Yeah, keep your eyes open.."

~H~T~

Once the creature hit the ground when he first rammed into it, Raziel pushed off it and used his wings to take him into the air to get a better advantage on the thing as it tried to get up. Swooping in on the dizzy creature, he moved to deliver a midair kick and would have been blocked by the tentacle the creatures shot out at him if he hadn't maneuvered slash them with his claws. The kick landed in a blow to the left head, making it yelp as its twin tried to bite him. He retaliated by grabbing it by the bull horns, ignoring the burning sensation in his hands as he grasped them. With the horns in his grip, he slammed his boot-clad feet against the left head and jerked his body-weight to the side; twisting the right head with him to an awkward angle on the neck. He heard a satisfying crack in the right neck as he kicked off the left head and used his wings to gain just enough speed to slam down on to the creature's spine. He release the right head's horns and the head fell lifelessly to the side as the left head took over the body; sending out the tentacles again to try and grab Raziel to hold him in place as the head turned around bite at him but Raziel had played to many of these kind of games to be caught by such a lame trick. Seeing the creatures appendages rush for him, Raziel ducked low on its back so that they over shot him, allowing him to slash out at them with the claw on each wingtip as he reached forward with his hands; grasping the left head's jaw then snapping it sharply to the side with such force that is broke with a sickening crack. Raziel stood up tall on the creature's spine as it's corpse collapsed to the wet earth, his gaze quickly drawn to the glowing blue orb that drifted up from the body. Instinct made him reach out and grasp it in his hand; it was the creature's soul and more than prepared to be consumed by him. The Wheel was no longer a problem and for some unknown reason, his body still drew the most strength from devouring souls so there was no harm in taking it; the little orb would simply go where it was destined once it was done giving him strength. He opened his mouth, which glowed blue preparation for the physical-only-to-him soul, before placing the glowing orb in his mouth and swallowing; it was very different from his previous way of consuming souls. That all being said and done, he turned towards the humans and glared at them as he simply stood there and waited for Sayumi to finish.

~H~T~

The humans stared in horror at what had just taken place; the sheer power of the creature before them was frightening.

_'Oh, man….! He looks ticked!'_ Alpine thought to herself as she watched him glared at them from afar. So caught up in the horrific mesmerization of his golden stare that she jumped when Foxie whispered in her ear.

"Dang, girl….! I don't think I've ever seen leather pants as tight as the ones that boy's wearin'…!" The statement made Alpine facepalm and shake her head as she whispered back.

"Foxie, the dood's obviously ticked off at us for some reason and the only thing your brain can focus on is how tight his pants are? What's up with that?"


	8. Chapter 7

A/N: Extremely small chapter. I just wanted to update and tell you guys that I haven't been feeling well (I got allergies that are so bad they're like a really bad cold) and the updates will probably be slower. They might speed up if I get reviews to make me feel better (oh cod, I've turned into one of those comment-beggers *facepalm* Sorry about that). Anyway, tiny chap, hope you like. Mostly filler with some build up. Also, at this point I would like to ask your guys' opinions: do you like where the story's going? Is it going to slow? Do you need me to clear anything up for you? Anything like that, I'd be glad to hear from you. Also, i fixed the link on my profile. It now directly leads to the folder on my Deviant Art account that holds all my Legacy of Kain related artwork. So if you guys wanna know what Sestine, Sayumi or Raziel's new form look like it's all in there. Bye for now, I have to go take a nap. Not feeling well... ; ;

Chapter 7

"Retile, reptile…." Sestine drummed her fingers along the ledge of the highest shelf of the large wooden bookcase. She was in search of an ancient tome, one that told her about the species that had been forced out of Nosgoth all those millennia ago. Her book-finding mission should lead her to a book that would explain what the creature that Kain had seen had been.

"Are you quite done yet?" Kain growled out as he held the short mage up by her hips.

"No, why? Getting tired down there, big boy?"

"No, it's just that I'm sure I have more important things to be doing right now than holding you to a bookself…!" He adjusted her weight in his claws, "Could I not simply grab the book."

"No, I need to find the right one. As the history keepers of Nosgoth, my species had a very… Interesting way of listing things and it can be rather hard to find what you're looking for if you're not really sure what you're looking for…."

"Whatever, but do hurry up….!"

"Settle…. Hmmm… Ah hah! I found it!"

"Then grab it already!" Sestine simply rolled her eyes and grabbed the ancient tome with her petite hands; it was like holding two large volumes in one book it was so thick.

"Got it." Hands latched around the old leather-bound book, Sestine could feel Kain lowering her to the ground and release her, it left her feeling oddly sad at the loss of contact but pushed it to the back of her mind. The ancient book was far too heavy for the lunacorn to carry so Kain gently grabbed it in his claws and took it over to the table with Sestine following close behind. Kain laid the book down as Sestine crawled up on the large solid-wood table, moving over to the tome and flipping through the index her ancestors wrote. Kain sat on the corner of the table and watched the pages flip past as Sestine rushed through the book to the section on reptiles.

"Here we are…" The page flipping slowed so Kain could see the different illustrations.

"There." He tapped a claw against the picture of a large reptile that resembled a lizard that only had its two front legs, it was also graced with giant fangs and large wings. Sestile stared in surprise at the creature, it was massive; no wonder in was exiled, it would have destroyed Nosgoth.

"It's called Fenrukai Dragon, an elemental master of sorts."

"What does that mean?"

"Says here that it can command fire and fissures in the earth that it calls magma up from." Sestine looked up at Kain from where she was kneeling in front of the book, her little horse tail twitching nervously, "Kain, this is bad. That creature was thrown out for a reason; if it stays here it could do some real damage. Damage that Nosgoth may not be able to recover from, we must get rid of it."

"You're right and we will." Kain paused for a moment and scratched his chin, "Sestine…. Did you ever find out what caused the barriers to start to degrade…?"

"…Now that you mention it. No. There are no hints as to why the barriers would suddenly fall apart, I doubt it has something to do with the Pillars or the Elder God... If it did, then this should have happened years ago…."

"I agree. There is a piece we're missing…."The two shared a thoughtful glace; this was take some looking into.

~H~T~

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let me get this straight….!" Josh exclaimed as he looked between Sayumi and her extremely ticked off looking guardian who was sitting a little way away just glaring at them, "You're saying he's a vampire?" The made Alpine and Foxie slap a palm to their faces as the professor only watched in glee at the strange happenings; their little team of humans had proved that there were creatures other than humans who lived in the land and had their own cultures.

"Why yes, of course…" Sayumi replied cocking her head the side; this human didn't seem to grasp things very well…

"But he's got wings! Vampires aren't supposed to have wings!"

"Josh, how can you that? We don't know anything about this land!" Alpine threw her hands up and exclaimed.

"But Alpine…" The argument that was starting brought a small laughing smile to Sayumi's lips; these humans were so strange than the ones of her land.

"Oi, Josh, Alpine, shut up for a second." Foxie hissed as she elbowed them in the rips so they'd look up; Raziel had stood up from his seat and walking towards them. Foxie gently tapped Sayumi on the hand and pointed at Raziel, "Sweetums, I think your dad wants to talk to you." The statement made the little spirit giggle.

"Oh, Raziel isn't my father… If anything could be said of us it's that I'm his mother, but I do believe he wants something. Excuse me a moment." Now her statement made the four of them look in confusion at each other as Sayumi stood up off the log and skipped over to her guardian.

"What on earth did she mean by that…?" Josh whispered, completely confused as the other three nodded in agreement.

"Either way young ones, I believe we should pay attention to those two." The professor's words surprised them but they nodded again and looked over at the pair as they listened in.

"Sayumi, it's getting late, we should return. You need rest."

"Nonsense, Raziel. Their camp is not far from here, I can feel it. We shall spend the night with them, they seem harmless enough."

"But Sayumi…"

"No buts, Raziel, we're staying. How can we get to know these humans without interacting with them?"

"Perhaps I don't feel like interacting…"

"Then let me, everything'll be fine…" She gently took his hand in hers and rubbed her thumb over the top of it in a calming manner, "I know you're still upset with humans for all they've done but please, I beg you again, give these ones a chance…." She gave him her best imitation of puppy dogs and leaned her head against his thigh, making the wraith-turned-vampire growl in reluctant agreement. Raziel's mentality of he'll do anything for Nosgoth was much more nerve racking when Nosgoth took on a physical body that verbally asked things of you. The two continued to talk a few minutes more and the Earthlings took this time to have their own conversation.

"What does she mean 'for all they've done to you'? That thing's a psycho powerhouse, what could humans ever do to him?" Josh questioned in a loud whisper, getting blank looks from the others.

"Not sure, but whatever it was it's got him on edge. I've never seen so much hate come from one person…." Foxie whispered, fixing her ponytail to look busy.

"Poor guy, whatever it was must have been pretty bad…" Alpine felt horribly sympathetic and her words were so low that the others could barely hear them or would have barely been able to hear them if they had been paying attention to her.

"They're coming back….!" The hushed warning made the small group quickly sit up.

"Hello, everyone. It is late and we all need rest, we were wondering if we'd be able to join you at your camp?" The group looked at each other before Josh replied hesitantly.

"Ugh… Sure, I guess."

"Excellent!" Sayumi gave the biggest smile they'd ever seen, "Oh and don't worry, Raziel has promised not to hurt anyone…"

"Ugh, we… Er- We didn't thi-!"

"It's quite alright. Humans very rarely trust vampires but Raziel is very well behaved, he's been doing this a long time…. Shall we?"

"Well, yeah… But there is the slight problem that we seem to have lost the way to our camp…." Josh said nervously as he scratched the back of his head

"Not to worry, your camp is nearby. I can feel it. Follow me."


	9. Chapter 8

A/N: Whooo! Large chapter! ...Large for me anyways. Anyway, I really have no idea where this chapter came from. So please read and enjoy as best you can. I'll be glad to hear any comments or complaints. Also, a huge thank you to all those that have faves and watched this story. It means a ton. ^^

Chapter 8

Raziel watched the whole affair that was set out before him across the room and he didn't like it. Something was off; the gleam in the so called benefactor's eyes as he looked at Sayumi, the split-second of uncertainty that flashed in her eyes as she hesitantly took his hand and curtsied but what did it mean? Something was wrong but he couldn't put his claw on it and he could simply leave because he had made a promise. How he hated how these things happen to him.

"This is madness!" He growled out as he kicked over a nearby chair and annoyance. The little "meep!" that sounded next to him surprised him and made him spin around to see the human Alpine standing there. The little human seemed to have been passing by, holding a tray covered in food, drink and a book for drawing along with a writing instrument. It chuckled nervously as it shifted its chubby weight and tried to avoid making eye contact.

"Uhmm… I-is everything a-alright….?" The uneasiness in her voice quite clear but she tried to strike up conversation anyway. Raziel's golden eyes flashed over to where Sayumi was sitting at the large dinner table across the room with the humans; she gave him an ashamed shake of her head before throwing him a pleading look. A growl rumbled in Raziel's throat but her turned back to the short human stand to his side and replied some-what politely for Sayumi's benefit.

"No, everything is not aright as of now but that is of little concern…" The words were pretty much grumbled out as he back down on the bench he had been on earlier and crossed his arms.

"Oh, ok then… Uhm.. Mind if I sit down…?" Raziel's drifted over to Sayumi, pleading for her to simply kill the little pest but the replying look to told behave and try to make friends. Right eye twitching slightly with annoyance, he grunted in reply and motioned to the seat next him as he pulled his wings in tighter to his body.

"Thank you." Raziel blinked as he watched the little human female set her tray down on her lap and eat slowly, her two little words rang in his ears; they were two words almost never uttered to a vampire by a human. The young woman happily munched away at her dinner, the ribs of sort of animal; a small flash of a smile graced Raziel's lips as he watched her tear the meat from the bone in an almost animalistic fashion. She seem so content with herself and the meat like nothing else in the world mattered, unlike the other humans who seemed to be stuck on some sort of manner system when it came to food to the point where it seemed like Alpine was the only one enjoying her meal. The girl flashed a little smile at him as she wiped some sauce from her face with the back of her hand and then wiped them on a cloth, sucking the last bit of sauce from her fingers. She acted like she rarely got the meal and that it was rather treasured. Raziel still detested humans and their ways but something about this one was ever so slightly different; she reminded him somewhat of a Nosgothian human but not nearly as skittish around him even though she knew what he was. Though there was probably good reason behind this, from what he had overheard there was no such things as vampires in their world so she did not know that she should be terrified of him. He wasn't exactly thrilled about her sitting next to him but the fact that she didn't have the stench of fear or hatred secreting from her was an oddly pleasant upside. The girl finished her meal and thoroughly cleaned her fingers and palms of any mess before setting her tray aside and gently grabbing up her sketchbook. Raziel looked down at her as she began to sketch out the basic shaped to what looked like a wolf but the girl seemed unfocused on her artwork; her head was bent but he could see it move just enough for her to cast a glance between and behind them.

"Have a problem with my wings…?" The suddenly hissed out words made the jump slightly in her seat and quickly look up at him.

"Wha? Oh, no! I think they're beautiful…" She beamed him a smile and reached out slightly towards, "Just that I've never seen wings up with close before. As an artist, I find it easier to draw things if you've seen them in real life." She looked intently between his eyes and his wings before she shyly asked her next question.

"Would you mind if I touch one? We don't really have wings like this in our world anymore…" Raziel was very uncomfortable with people touching his wings, even more so with it being a human; the very idea made his skin crawl but he felt oddly compelled to let her, he had a feeling that this was Sayumi's doing. Finally letting the nagging feeling take over, he grunted in reply. She flashed him another smile and reached out more with her hand and barely grasped the rib of his wing with her tiny fingertips. She gently ran her hand upward, rubbing palms and fingers up the bone; taking in every detail to fuel her art. While she was doing that, an involuntary shiver of pleasure spiked through Raziel's spine. He couldn't remember how many thousands of years ago he had last felt such a thing; the renewed feeling was unnerving and it took all his strength to stuff down the moan that wanted to escape. He didn't like it and the girl's touch was starting to make him feel like his brain was turning to mush; he had to get out of there before all conscious thought left his mind. Alpine was currently rubbing her fingers over the joints of his wings, sending another jolt through Raziel; making him snapping his wing away and stand up. Alpine was a little shocked by the sudden movement but it didn't really surprise her; what did surprise her was that he had let her touch him for so long. She watched the vampire as he walked out the door and smiled as she went back to her drawing.

~h~t~

Once outside, Raziel jumped into the tall leafy hold of a full tree and sit against the trunk; trying to shake off the rest of Alpine's disturbing touch as he pulled out a small jewel from his pocket. It was diamond shaped and about two inches by one inch in diameter; despite the jewel being a midnight blue, it glowed a magma red color.

"Xalthu…" The keyword slipped from his lips as he held the jewel up to the moonlight. He needed ask Sestine about something that was bothering him…

~H~T~

Sestine was hip deep in books and old scrolls in here underground library when her own jewel started to vibrated and glow in the bosom of her dress. Lifting it by the string it was attached to, she blew gently on it.

"Yes?"

"Sestine, is that you?"

"Oh, Raziel, hello. Yes, it's me. I see you got the stone to work. Is something wrong? Where are you two?" Sestine climbed out of the books and sat down on a large pile.

"We found the humans from the Otherland, it's called Earth apparently. Sayumi has decided that we shall camp here with them tonight against my better judgment… Though, that is not the issue I wished to bring up. It is something that happed upon first arriving here with these humans. As I watched Sayumi go forth and mingle with the small clan, I noticed that not all was well with Sayumi for a split-second upon her initial introduction to the benefactor to this 'anthropological expedition'…"

"Anthropological expedition?"

"The human's words, not mine. Ignoring that, as I was saying; this benefactor's name was Runekin. Sayumi seemed to know the name but the look of recognition fled quickly after it and she paid no heed to it then it seem as she had never heard or met him before. What could be her reasoning behind this?"

"Well, Raziel I'm no expert on ancient spirits of the land but from what I do know… Sayumi told me that her memories are a little jumbled and some are hidden and confused due to you and Kain jumping around through time so much. Odds are she does know him but doesn't know it; the recognition didn't last long enough for her memory to kick in…"

"But that is not the only event I wished to mention…" Sestine scratched the base of her alicorn as she tells him to continue.

"The human. This Runekin, he too seemed to have a sense of recognition about her too but hid it extremely well and surprisingly fast…

"Hmmm… Now that is interesting…. There's no way the same Runekin that was exiled, if there is one, to still be alive if he was still human. Are you sure he was?"

"Extremely…"

"Hmm… Alright then, how about this? You go back and look after to Sayumi while I search the history books. If there was a Runekin then perhaps I can find him…"

"My thanks to you, Sayumi."

"You are welcome. I will contact you if I find anything; keep your whisper stone with you at all time. Goodbye and take care, Raziel." The link between the two stones fell dead and Sestine leaned back on her throne of books, holding her hands together and resting her fingertips against her lips; something was very wrong with this whole picture…

~h~t~

Kain wiped the blood from his lips with a claw as he stepped into the library to look for Sestine. He was quickly greeted by the sounds of mumbling and books being tossed around with one another. He quickly wove his way through the maze of bookcases to find Sestine flipping through a book while sitting on a pile of them in the middle of a sea of them. He watched her for a few moments; the petite lunacorn seemed to be wracking her brain for information while she had her frantic search through the ancient text.

"No, no, no! This is bad, so very bad!"

"Something wrong, Sestine?" The vampire lord's sudden words shocked his little companion, causing her to jump in fright and drop her book; she quickly jumped up and span around, hand to chest as she tried to catch her breath.

"K-kain…!" Her eyes flickered to everywhere but on him as she picked up her book, "U-ugh… Enjoy your meal…?"

"Quite so." He raised an eye brow at her and turned his gaze to the history book in her hand, "A little light reading, Sestine?"

"What? This? Umm yes… Heheh…" Kain didn't like how jumpy she was around him; she never acted this way.

"We'll have to start repairing the barriers tomorrow when Sayumi and Raziel, you should get some rest. You should come to bed, Wralyx is waiting for you, the reading can wait." He walked towards her and towered above her as she gulped in fear, "That is unless there's something you haven't told me yet…." The intensity of his gaze was too much and the dam finally broke.

"Raziel and Sayumi are camping with the humans from the Otherlands and it was all Sayumi's idea, Raziel made it painfully clear that he was against it but Sayumi wouldn't listen she wanted to get to know the humans better so they're staying there tonight but Raziel has bad suspicions about this one human and wanted me to look him up so I did and I found out that his ancestor was an evil sorcerer that created an evil stone that can enslave and destroy all of Nosgoth." Kain could only blink at her, the speed of the run-on sentence had seemed to slur all her words together and he was trying to decifer them as she raised the book to hide her face and whimpered, "Don't hurt me…!" It took a good thirty more seconds before processed through everthing.

"WHAT!" His exclamation was filled with so many frightening emotions that Sestine was reduced to shivering in fear before him; something she had never done before. Kain yanked the book from her tiny fingers with one hand as he used a claw from the other to lift her chin so she was looking up at him.

"Sestine, run that by me again and this time slower."

"They're camping with humans. There's a human there that's the descendant of a human that was banished as part of the great exile. He's pure evil and probably knows about the enslaving stone his ancestor created. If he gets his hands on Sayumi, all of Nosgoth is doom!" She just kinded crumpled into the grasp his claws had on her arms.

"That's all I needed to know. Have you contacted Raziel and told him to get Sayumi as far away from there as possible?" The little lunacorn quickly nodded her head as her tail drooped.

"I tried, Kain, I really did. But the stone, it couldn't connect to his… I don't know what's wrong, I told him to expect my call…" Kain didn't like the sound of that one bit.

"Come, we must go to them. Something is wrong here."

~H~T~

~Not long Before Hand~

Raziel sat cross-legged on a crate in the large tent he was sharing with Sayumi; the humans had given it to them to sleep in. He listened to Sayumi's happy humming as he watched her set up her sleeping roll.

"I don't like it…" The words slipped from the wraith-turned-vampire's lips as his golden eyes involuntarily focused in on a strange-smelling candle burning to his right; how long had that candle been there?

"Don't like what, Raziel….?" More humming.

"Being here. Something is wrong, I can feel it but I cannot put my finger on it…." That candle! Where had it come from? It hadn't been there when they were first given the tent before dinner yet it had been lit and waiting for them when they came back after the meal.

"Raziel, I'm sure it is simply your mistrust of the humans… Just try to relax and forget about it…"

"No…! That is not it, we must leave! Now!" Oh beautiful Nosgoth, why did he feel so tired and his body so heavy?

"You're over reacting. Everything's fine, Raziel."

"You're wrong…!" He forced his lethargic body to stand but he quickly fell to his knees with a thud mere seconds later.

_'What is wrong with my body? Why is the room spinning? Human trickery? ….That bloody candle! I knew it!'_ The edges of his vision started to grey as the rest of his body collapsed to the ground, the last thing he was aware of before the darkness took his was the muffled sound of Sayumi frantically calling his name.

"RAZIEL!"


	10. Chapter 9

A/N: **_Warning: Incredibly short chapter ahead! _**Used solely for plot development! Hope it explains things... . Or it could just piss you off...

Chapter 9

Sayumi hitched up her dress and rushed over to him, kneeling next to him to check for life; well, as much life that could be found in a vampire. She breathed a sigh of relief that he was alright, merely unconscious. Her heart pumped hard and fast from worry as she continued to kneel next to him, gently petting his hair; hoping he would awaken soon. She was so distracted that she didn't hear the tent unzip.

"Greetings, Miss Sayumi…" The voice surprised Sayumi, causing her to instinctively grasp Raziel's tunic and pull herself closer to her.

"M-master Runekin, what're you doing here…."

"Why to come get you, my dear…" Two large military men came up to stand next to Runekin, one of which was holding a long pipe in his hand.

"And just why would I want to do that? Is this your doing?" She motioned to Raziel, making Runekin nod and snap his fingers.

"Because if you don't come with me, your friend there's gonna get a nasty wound from a pipe being rammed through his heart." His words sent a shiver of fear and anger through her, making the ground rumble a bit. Raziel's new body was still a mystery, they didn't know if being staked would paralyze him like other vampires or if he'd come back from the dead again; either way Sayumi didn't want to put him through that after all he'd been through.

"I trusted you and your kind, but I see now that I should have just listened to Raziel…"

"Yes, he seems somewhat bright if not a little paranoid but you should not condemn us all. Your friends, Josh and his little gang, had nothing to do with it. Actually, they're a little tied up at the moment…" His words shocked her abit, she had thought the humans all shared the same intention for coming to Nosgoth, "You see, those fools really did just come to learn about your land and its creatures and cultures. Moronic anthropologists… They don't realize the sheer power that can be harnessed in this world." His gazed turned cold and his smile evil, "Isn't that right, Sayumi? Oh great spirit of Nosgoth…."

"H-how did you k-know that…?"

"I have an ancestor; he actually came from Nosgoth but was thrown out in the great exile. He had all his notes about this world save for future generations. And according to them, it would seem that this isn't your first time taking a physical form." Runekin cast an evil smile towards her, "Lucky for me too that you decided to do so again…" He offered out his hand to her, beckoning her to stand and come to him.

"Come along, my dear, we have work to do…"

"If I come with you willingly, will you promise me that Raziel will be alright….?"

"Of course, my dear. After he wakes up in a few hours he shall be released, you have my promise." Sayumi sighed at this, she gently ran a hand over Raziel's silken ebony hair before standing and waking over to him. He offered his hand to her again but she simply gave him the cold shoulder, it would be a cold day in the Spectral Realm before she willingly accepted his hand.

~H~T~

Sestine sat on the battlements, watching Kain's bats fly toward the human camp while she held her stone to talk to him.

"Sestine, what were you reading?"

"It was a history book…"

"Eh…?"

"It told of Runekin. The one that was born here."

"Tell me the tale; it may be of importance for later refrence." Kain wasn't much for old stories but this one might be important. Sestine nodded despite the fact he could see her, she blew warm air on her freezing fingers.

"It was long ago, when all the races were still young as was the land. A child name Fuinth Runekin was born to a young human couple in a small village; which no longer exists, by the way. From his birth, the village leader and the village priest knew that a great evil was harbored within him but his parents would not listen." She took a breath and warmed her hands again, "The years went by and Runekin secretly began to study dark magic until the lessons consumed his soul…"

"The Elder God…?"

"Probably. Anyway, he also took on alchemy, not to make gold but to construct a one-of-a-kind stone. It was called the Ever-Kin Diamond, a jewel that harnessed the magical energy of a great eclipse and alignment of planets."

"What did it do with the energy?"

"When aligned with a specific eclipse in Nosgoth, the jewel becomes empowered with magical properties. These properties are what gives the jewel its name: Ever-Kin. The user of the jewel has the power to cast a spell on any living creature and depending on the strength of the user, the easier it is for them to take control of the creature they cast the spell on." Rubs nose then sniffles slightly, "Once they have the control of that one creature, the user's command spreads to the victims immediate linage with two generations both forward and back. That means they also take command over grandparents, parents, children and grandchildren! It's like killing five birds with one stone!"

"Such a power should not belong in this world….."

"Exactly! Kain, do you realize that the new Runekin recognized Sayumi? He must have found out what she is somehow."

"So….?"

"So….! Kain, if he got his hands on her then Nosgoth would fall into organized chaos!"

"There's no such thing, Sestine…."

"You know what I mean! Sayumi is Nosgoth and what does every living creature call itself?"

"…A child of Nosgoth…"

"Exactly! We are her children and therefore her immediate family!"

"He could command Sayumi then he'd have control of every living creature in Nosgoth….!"

"Right! We must stop him!"

"But how can we do that if he gets to her first?"

"Well, he might not have the diamond yet! There's still that chance. Also, there's a talisman that can be made to ward off the spell from those who wear it."

"How do we make it?"

"Not sure yet, it was made up by Fuinth's aide who rebelled against him because he didn't like what he was doing. He then gave it to my people to write down in the history books…"

"Let me guess… They used stupid, pathetic excuse for a bookkeeping system on it…?"

"…Correct… Which means that's why I have to go find it, I'm hoping it's in one of the many libraries in my castle, otherwise it might be in the old catacomb library under the mountain…"

"Wonderful…. Well get on it, I'll be back as soon as I can!" Sestine cut the line once he was down and quickly jumped off the battlements, onto Wralyx's back.

"To the dungeon library! As fast as your paws will take you!"


	11. Chapter 10

A/N: Ok, yes. I am still alive! Sorry everyone. I was super busy with finals then my sister just had knee surgery so I'm dead tired with taking care of her. ; ; So I just want to say I'm soo sorry! Ok, so this was only supposed to be mostly author's note and like a paragraph of story but it just kept growing! So, here you go. An actual chapter... I'm really tired so tell me if I missed something.

Chapter 10

"I don't believe this! That snake!" Josh growled out as he kicked the bars to his cage as hard as he could.

"Josh, calm down. Overworking yourself like this not help us." Professor Cartrite told him as he motioned for the boy to sit down. Josh snorted but complied, grumbling as he slumped down on the cold metallic floor with arms crossed. The professor opened his mouth and was about to say something when they heard the door to the room holding their cages open. A man in his early fifties and wearing a white lab coat walked through it, followed by two guards. He walked up to the men's cage and smiled at the professor, who just frowned in return.

"Hello, Mike…. What brings you here on this fine day…?" The professor's voice dripped so much hate and sarcasm that it came as a total shock to the rest of his team. The new scientist, Mike, looked shocked and hurt as well.

"Cart, how could you be so mean? I come all this way to offer the deal of a lifetime and you rebuke me…" This seemed to pique Cartrite's interest.

"Deal? What deal?"

"Only the best deal you may ever get."

"You're starting to sound like the broken record of a salesman, out with it!"

"Ok, ok, fine…." Mike folded his arms in front of his chest, "As old friend of mine, despite us being on the opposite sides of our profession, I've come to offer you a chance to study with me one of the creatures from this land. A little something to reward you for all your hard work finding this place; a location people have been looking for for hundreds of years." Mike looked rather proud of himself for coming up with the offer.

"As both an anthropologist and biologist, you must realize how wonderful an opportunity this is! I'm about to experiment on one of the natives of this land and thought you might want to help!" Cartrite went red in the face and was about to refuse when Josh piped up.

"He'd love to!" Both Mike and Cartrite were surprised at this but Josh simply took the professor by the shoulders, "Look Prof, us lot are gonna be stuck in this cage for a very long time from the looks of it. So you should get out and enjoy your freedom before all you can do is come back and tell us all about it. So, go." Cartrite was gonna protest when he suddenly realized what Josh was doing; he was sending him out to have a look around the nearby compound so they could know what they were dealing with when they tried to break free. The professor nodded solemnly as Josh let go of his shoulders, patted him on the back and stepped back. Cartrite turned back to Mike and nodded.

"Alright, I'll come with you. It'd be an honor to join in on this little experiment…" The words made him feel dirty but he had to do this.

"Great!" Mike exclaimed, clapping his hands together happily before pulling out his keys and opened the cage door. The guards made sure Josh and his team didn't try any funny business. The girls waved to the professor as he was taken away. Once the group was gone, Foxie looked around for bugs before turning to Josh.

"What're you playing at? Letting them just take him away like that!" Josh just replied by putting his fist on his hips and gave a cocky smile.

"It's all good, girl, just relax." With that, he knelt down and messed around with the sole of his boot; where he had a little secret pocket between the cloth and the rubber, "I got this whole thing planned out." He found what he was looking for and jumped back up; holding out a bobby pin, paper clip and a couple other tools Foxie and Alpine couldn't recognize.

"We're getting out of here and stopping that scumbag!"

~H~T~

Cartrite followed his old associate down and through the cloth corridors of their encampment until they reached the designated science department.

"Cart, isn't this realm amazing? So many strange and wonderful things here." Mike rambled as they entered one of the larger lab tents. Cartrite was horrified to a familiar looking vampire on the exam table.

"Mike, are you mad! Do you have any idea what this creature'll do to you when it wakes up?" He exclaimed as his fear peaked, "You haven't seen him in action. The sheer power is horrifying!" The frightened professor inched towards the table where the unconscious Raziel lay on his back where only his leather pants and bracers.

"Oh! I can only imagine! Look at its muscular structure; it's magnificent!" Mike was starting to act like a kid in a candy store, "And don't worry about him waking up, his body only has enough energy to keep him alive on the bare minimum. It's really amazing! Mr. Runekin created a poison so powerful that it could kill the entire U.S. army in a few minutes and all it did was knock this _thing_ unconscious!" Cartrite couldn't believe this, Mike had to be even more insane than he thought!

"Cart, just look at the wingspan on it!"

"He."

"What?"

"It's a he, this thing as you call it is full aware and should be at least called by its gender if not its name…."

"Fine, whatever you want." Mike shrugged, "Anyway, back to it-his wingspan. The muscles in his back must be extremely powerful!"

"Along with every other part of him! You should not experiment on this creature; it is a very bad idea!" Mike simply brushed off his advice as he looked through his tools.

"Ugh…. Darn it! I'm missing something." He headed for the door, "I'll be right back. You're got going anywhere right?"

"Of course not."

"Good!" With that, Mike was gone and Cartrite jumped into action. He scrambled over to the table of tools and looked for something sharp. He got the distinct feeling that they were all going to die but maybe, just maybe, if he freed this vampire it might go easy on them before ripping them apart. He found what he was a looking for, a small scalpel. He rushed back over to where Raziel was and stood by his head.

"I'm probably going to regret doing this…" He got the scalpel and used it to slice into his own palm, watching as the crimson liquid began to seep from the wound, "I hope this works…" With his good hand, he gentle opened Raziel's mouth before bringing over his other hand. His wounded hand hovered above the vampire's mouth before turning to the side, letting the liquid spill. He knew not much would come from his hand but he hoped it'd be enough. After a bit of dripping blood it seemed to work, Raziel's golden eyes slid open but looked cloudy.

"Oh thank goodness." Cartrite joy was cut short by Raziel's almost instant recovery merely seconds later. The vampire's hand snapped up and caught the professor's wrist as a growl escaped his throat.

"P-please, c-calm down!" Cartrite stammered as the pain and fear robbed his brain of something better to say.

'Oh god, he's gonna crush my wrist…!' The terrified thought raced through his head as he saw Raziel struggle to sit up.

"Where am I? Where is Sayumi? Speak, human!" Raziel growled out, his head was throbbing and he had to use his new wings to push himself into a sitting position, each of his legs hanging over a side of the thin exam table.

"I-it's somewhat hard to e-explain…"

"Out with it!"

"We're currently being held against our will in this makeshift military base…" Cartrite swallowed hard and summoned up all the courage he could in the face of this really tick off monster, "Please, we need your help…" This made Raziel look him straight in the eye with a golden glare before letting out a hiss.

"And just _why_ should I help you…?"

"W-well, i-it'll be to b-both our benefit…"

"Continue."

"I-if you can h-help us escapes w-we can probably h-help you find R-runekin. H-he's the one t-that took your friend…" This seemed to get to Raziel's attention.

"Continue."

"Well, w-we've been traveling with him for a bit now and w-we can probably help you figure o-out where he's taking her…" Raziel was not thrilled about working with humans but all of Nosgoth would end if something happened to Sayumi.

"This sounds reasonable, for now at least but if you cross me…"

"Y-yes, I'm well aware of the consequences…"

"Good. Now, pray tell how we leave this bothersome place?" Raziel inquired as he struggled to stand, Cartrite quickly yet gingerly grabbed his arm to help him. The vampire made as if to jerk away but realized he needed help and complied.

"Through that doo-" The professor was interrupted by the door opening and a bubbly Mike walking in.

"Cart, I finally fou-! What on Earth are you doin-!" He was cut off as a still weak Raziel leaped at him, intent on blood.


	12. Chapter 11

A/N: Mini chapter just to show you I'm alive. ^^'

I just wanted to post something before I go to Disneyland for a week. Sorry it's so late... ^^'

Chapter 11

Just as claws were about to rip into him, Mike grabbed one of the shocked guards by his side and shoved him at Raziel.

"Worthless sack of meat…!" The scientist grumbled as he heard the guard scream when the vampire's claws and fangs sunk into him and Mike bolted while they were busy. Raziel threw the deadman aside and hissed, no longer used to such a messy meal.

"H-he's getting away…!" Cartrite's still scared voice sounded through the room, only making Raziel nod.

"You do not lack the ability to state obvious observations, I see…" The vampire wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his hand before rushing for the door, "Hurry along, human!" Cartrite had no time to reply before his companion disappeared through the door. He quickly followed the still weak vampire down the corridors before they stopped at a fork in the road.

"Which way to your companions, the stench of you humans are overpowering my sense of smell..!"

"T-to the r-right… Cartrite panted once he finally caught up, placing his hands on his knees as he gasped for air. There was no time for rest as Raziel took off again.

~H~T~

Josh had just finished picking the lock to his cage and kicked open the barred door.

"One down, one to go." He said as he hurried to the door of the girls' cage. He picked up the padlock and began to tinker with it.

"Move, human, you're far too slow!" A voice suddenly said next to him as a hand slammed down upon the lock, slicing it open with sharp claws. Josh and his team quickly turned to Raziel and Cartrite.

"Wha-!" Foxy was cut off by the sounds of agonized voices screaming bloody murder coming from the main compound.

"What the Davy was that?" Alpine yelped as she grabbed Foxy's hand but the older woman just shook her head.

"Dunno, sugar…." At this, Raziel ripped the door from their cage, addressing them both.

"Then we shall go and find the source of it!" He quickly took off for the compound, Josh and the others just shrugging before following quickly. They rushed to entrance in a hurry and stopped short suddenly. What had stopped the humans was the scene of slaughtered bodied and blood splattered across the field outside but what had stopped Raziel the annoyingly familiar laugh that filled the air and the condescending voice that followed it.

"Raziel… Once more I find you alone and abused in the presence of humans.. What ever am I to do with you?"


	13. Chapter 12

A/N: Hi guys! Long time no see~! ...Super sorry about that. ^^' Got too wrapped up failing at League of Legends. XD

Ya know when I first started this story I really didn't think it would draw out this long and for that I'm really, REALLY sorry. ; ; I just hope you guys are enjoying yourselves. ^^' If so, drop me a line. ^^ or even if you aren't enjoying yourselves. XD

Chapter 12

Josh slowly gathered his group behind him without even looking from two creatures in front of him. He had no idea how this was going to go and didn't want the other humans in front for this. They just watched as Raziel crossed his arms over his chest as he snorted gruffly at the blood-splattered monstrosity before him, glaring up from under his long ebony bangs.

"Really, Kain, come all this way just to insult me. Do you not have better things to do with your oh so precious time." Josh couldn't believe what he was hearing: Raziel was mouthing off to this guy (in a slightly ancient sounding sort of way but still mouthing off all the same)! Sure, Raziel was a vampire but this guy was huge, like a foot and a half taller than him! Kain, as they found was the other's name, simply flicked blood from his claws and put his hands on his hips.

"Contrary to what you believe, I am here for more imperative reasons…"

"More imperative than belittling me? My, Kain, I do believe something has gone within your mind with such old age…" Josh still could believe his ears, this couldn't actually be happening; he couldn't be standing in the middle of a blood-splattered compound and gawking at two monsters mouthing off at each of other in what he liked to call 'ye olde lingo'. While the two were still going at it, he cast a glance behind him at Alpine and Foxy, who he found gawking awkwardly just like he had been. Turning back to the vampires, he could see Kain was about to say something when he was cut off by an angry sounding female voice. It sounded like it was coming from the air around them but it was really coming from Kain's earring.

"Kain! Raziel! Can you two please stop bickering for five heartbeats and focus upon the forward task!" The whole group just sort of blinked in shock; man that woman sounded ticked, "In case you've forgotten, we are on a very limited stretch of time here!" They could hear her grumbling and both vampires looked rather stunned at her outburst. While Josh found himself wondering just what kind of creature could have these two monsters so stunned.

"Have you found what you were searching for, Sestine?" Kain asked, sounding more serious than he had a minute ago.

"Fortunately. It took forever but I found it. I'm guessing Sayumi is no longer with you, correct?" Kain cast a glance over at Raziel and his human companions at her question. Raziel spoke his reply without hesitation.

"Unfortunately. By some trickery that even she could not see through."

"I figured as much…" They could practically hear the frown in her voice.

'What's going on here? This all seems so weird, just who is Sayumi to them?' Josh thought to himself as he heard Sestine speak up again.

"Raziel, Kain. There is a matter of importance I must bring up and you may not like it…"

"What is it, witch?"

"I warned you about that, Kain, bit I'll let it slide." She took a breath and sighed, "We need humans." The words made both Raziel and Kain frown but had the little group of humans wondering just what they NEEDED the humans for…

"Whatever for, Sestine?" Kain growled out ever so slightly more politely.

"Runekin. Apparently he cannot be killed as long as he is in Nosgoth. His ancestor put a powerful spell on his entire lineage. He can only be forced into submission here but has to executed in another realm, a realm such as the one this Runekin came from…." Josh was sure he'd be killed for speaking up but he did anyways, someone had to talk on behalf of the human race.

"What does this have to do with us?" The piercing golden gazes of Raziel and Kain snapped to him, making him clamp his mouth shut. They looked like they were about to rip into him for simply existing, making him wonder what humans had done to such powerful creatures to make them act this way. Fortunately, he was saved by Sestine.

"Good question, human. It would seem that we are in need of trustworthy humans to take the subdued Runekin back to your realm and have him executed. I would send him with Raziel or Kain to your realm but we have no way of knowing what your world would do to them since our kinds don't seem to be common there…" She sounded trustworthy herself and Joshed looked over his shoulder at his fellow humans, who nodded. It was because of their expedition that Runekin had made it here and stolen Sayumi.

"We'd be honored to help." He wasn't sure how to talk to such creatures, especially one he couldn't see but he hoped an honor system worked with them like it did on Earth.

"Thank you…." She clicked her tongue an eerie howl could be heard in the background, the vampires knew it to be a worried Wralyx, "Raziel, you have spent time with this group of humans… Are they worthy of our trust?" Raziel turned his upper body to get a better look over his shoulder at the humans, his eyes meeting Cartrite's.

"Yes. For now at the very least…" The humans released a breath they all seemed to be holding.

"Good. Then get going. You must come to the castle first; there are things we need to prepare in order to overcome what is ahead." Raziel and Kain nodded despite the fact that Sestine couldn't see them. The communication with Sestine cut off and grudgingly raised his wrist towards Raziel.

"You'll need you strength for this journey." That was all Kain said and Raziel unquestioningly leaned over bit into his wrist. Raziel made a face at the bitter taste of his sire's blood but felt completely rejuvenated after only two swallows. The humans could feel their stomachs turn at the sight but didn't make a noise out of fear. Raziel released Kain's wrist and the older vampire licked the wound shut before turning to the humans. As quick as quick as lightning, Raziel grabbed Alpine and Josh and took to the skies as the other humans felt themselves start to dissolve and take on another shape. They were all slightly horrified to see themselves turn into bats and seemed to be led on a mental leash by Kain.

~~~~~~A/N: Before any ya'll can say anything. We're all gonna just pretend that Kain can turn other people in to bats for the sake of the story. He just drank from like 30 people so I think he has more than enough energy to keep up the spell for the trip. Hope you enjoyed. ^^'


	14. Chapter 13

A/N: Hi guys! I'm back with another chapter! For some reason I only feel like updating this story right now... Odd... Anyways. Wanted a slightly funny chappy because the upcoming ones will probably get pretty gory. There is a link in profile to a picture of Sestine's map mentioned in here that shows all the places she's mentioned. Read and enjoy the awkwardness of this chap. ^^' Bye bye!

Chapter 13

Alpine had no way of telling how long they'd been flying and her stomach couldn't make up its mind if it wanted to jump around or stand still in her gut. She almost didn't realize that they had landed on the battlements of a hidden castle. Raziel let her and Josh go, the sudden change of now being on the ground made poor Alpine's head swim and she swayed, nearly falling off the high merlon of the battlement. She would have fallen had Raziel not reached out with a strong wing and pulled her back to her feet. She flashed him a dizzy smile and mouthed 'thank you', she got the slightest quirk of a lip in reply from the vampire before he turned away; completely ignoring her and the other humans. If Kain, who had just reformed himself and the humans, had seen the act he ignored it for the sake of Raziel's pride. Dumping the other humans on the ground, Kain stretched his limbs and turned to Raziel. Their silent conversation was cut off by the sound of claws clacking on stone, and a sweet-sounding voice talking to them.

"Kain, Raziel…. You've made it in time, good." They all turned to see a small strange-looking woman with green-striped hair. Alpine was amazed at how small she was, she was about as short as Alpine. Suddenly, she didn't feel as short as she used to but it scared her at what an air of authority this horned woman had.

"Sestine, what's wrong?"

"Come with me, I have the maps ready. We must plan and set out…" She turned back towards the door then stops, "Are the leaders of these humans here?" Raziel flicked his wings and grunted in reply.

"Good, bring them, they are a part of this now." She continued along her way inside with Kain right behind her. Josh and Cartrite let out little surprised sounds as Raziel picked them up by the backs of their military jackets and carried them inside. Alpine watched as his wings folded comfortably against his back as he took the men inside. Drawing her artist's eye away from his strange physique and turned her head to the left. She let out a surprised squeak as she found a smirking Foxy up in her face.

"Girl, I saw what happened there…!"

"What? Him pick up Josh and the Professor then carry them inside. Fox, everyone saw that, so what…?" Alpine really had no idea what her friend was getting at as she watch their other two team members followed the others in.

"Not that! The way he used a wing to scoop you up and pull you back when you were about to fall." Fox snickered and elbowed her, "I think he likes ya, sugar." The sidelong glare Alpine gave her showed just how unimpressed she was with this train of conversation.

"You have to be kidding me, Fox. You do realize that the only reason he saved me was because they have no idea how many of us they'll need, right…?" Foxy was giggling like a school girl now as she wrapped her arm around Alpine.

"I don't think so, girl. You should have seen him at dinner when you were petting his wings with your crafty little artist's hands. It was only for a split second but you had his pretty golden eyes rolling back in his head with ecstasy as you turned his brain to mush!" She rubbed herself up against Alpine and purred, "Makes you wonder in the rest of him's that sensitive touch… And have you seen those powerful-looking hips?! Makes ya think about how they ca-!"

"FOXY?!" Alpine slapped her palms over her ears, face bright red, "What on earth is wrong with you?"

"What?" Foxy couldn't help but laugh at the hilariously horrified face of her best friend.

"Can't you get your mind out of the gutter for one second?! How did you ever make it this far in the army?!"

"Simple, by kicking all the boys' butts!" Alpine just shakes her head, slack jawed before throwing her arms up.

"That's it! I give up! I'm going inside!" Still shaking her head as she walks inside, "Of all the best friends in the world to get… I had to get a sex-crazed one….. Why me….?"

~H~T~

That horrific conversation hadn't been nearly as long as it had felt. Alpine could still feel the deep flush on her face as she tried to get rid of disturbing images out of her head, She was very glad she was a virgin so that she didn't have more knowledge to put into those images. She shook her head to clear it as she rushed after the others, she didn't want Foxy to catch her just yet. That didn't last long, with her long powerful legs Foxy caught up to her in no time. They entered the room see Raziel plop the two humans in chairs around Sestine's massive hardwood table.

"Psst! Ya think there's somethin' goin' on there?" Alpine jumps slightly as Foxy whispers in her ear and points at Sestine and Kain, they watch as Kain gently picks Sestine up around the waist with one massive hand and plops her on the table. He leans over her to look at the huge map that takes up the entire table, palms pressed to the table with an arm on either side of the strange woman. Sestine presses her back against his chest as she leans up to point towards the north, her little horse tail waving back and forth against Kain's thighs.

"I couldn't tell ya…" She thinks there is but doesn't want to feed into Foxy's obsession, "Let's get closer, I want to see." Foxy snickers at her.

"Yeah, wanna see the great shirtless Raziel…" Alpine just groan in frustration and walks over to stand next to her professor.

"Alright. It was all in my race's history books." She hears Sestine start as they all look at the detailed and colorful, it's beautiful! "I found what is needed to create the pendants that ward off the spell of the Everkin Diamond." Sestine lights up her alicorn slightly so they can see the map in for detail. Despite it being midday, the castle is rather dark inside. She taps the map with a tiny palm and smirks.

"Everything is marked on this map." There was an oddly low grumble from Kain at this.

"How do you know this map is accurate for this timeline?"

"Simple, it's a magic map that changes with any changes you and Raziel make to Nosgoth." Kain made a weird noise that could only be recognized as a chuckle by Sestine as it wasn't his normal laugh. Alpine looked on it awe of Sestine's control of the situation as she continued.

"There are four things needed for the pendants and two things that need to be done in order to make the Everkin Diamond." She brought a hand up to count, "For the pendant, there's Therlok's Lace which is found in my family's catacombs. Frigid Metal, which is found in the Lost City. Blood Diamonds, found in the swamp of Termogent Forest and lastly the Ebony Ink which is found in the site of where the future Sarafan Stronghold will be…" Sestine raised her head and looked between the shocked faces of Kain and Raziel.

"But that's clear across Nosgoth!" Raziel exclaimed, "We'll never get the pieces in time!" Sestine shook her head.

"Don't be so sure, Raziel. There's no possibly way that Runekin has the Everkin Diamond yet…."

"How do you know of this?"

"Because it's not logical… There are two things he must do first. Get the Life's Coal first, which is hidden somewhere in Dark Eden." The cringe that went through Kain at the name was almost non-existent, "Then he must go through Dark Eden to get to Weatherthorn Ruins, pass through that somehow and get into Mount Thulgoth where the north barrier is. Turns out that is what that barrier is hiding, the way to create the Everkin Diamond." Kain's grumble of agreement reverberated through his chest and into Sestine's back as he slapped a palm on the map.

"Then it is settled. We shall go in the straightest route. The catacombs, to the Lost City, to the swamp," Kain and Raziel groaned slightly at that, "Then to the Sarafan." Kain stood to his fool height and stared down at the humans.

"Go with Sestine and prepare what you creatures will need to survive the journey it will be a long trip and the cities of this world are not kind to outsiders…." His cold tone was his way of dismissing them, he walked back towards the battlements with the slightest flick of his head as a way to call Raziel over to him. Once they were gone, Sestine turned to the humans and smiled.

"Shall we?"


	15. Chapter 14

A/N: Ok hey! Another chap. I swear they'll get to their destination next chap or you're all allowed to throw a rock me! ^^

Chapter 14

Raziel sat on one of the high merlons of the battlements as Kain stood next to him. They watched the door into the castle, waiting for the little lunacorn woman to appear. They didn't have long to wait, Sestine was never known to keep them waiting for long. She and the humans had been packing and getting ready for hours, the sun was already starting to set in the sky. Sestine rubbed little eyes as Kain lifted her up and placed her on a merlon next to Raziel's.

"Are they ready?" Sestine yawned and nodded, she had been so frantic today and the day before that she hadn't slept all night. She had been too busy researching and modifying maps to really care about her own well-being.

"Yes. I had them rest for a bit, it's a long road and humans tire easily." The two vampires had to agree with her wisdom, they would all have to walk because even the vampires would grow tired if they had to fly the whole way there. It was too much of a strain on the body to fly oneself with the company of creatures that could not fly. Kain folded his arms as he watched Raziel shift on the stone he was sitting so that he could look at Sestine straight on.

"Sestine, could we not simply leave the humans here? They are weak and a hindrance. Will they not simply slow our progress to get the pendants? As it is, they don't even need pendants do they?" Sestine slowly blinked sleepy eyes at him as she tried to process his words before finally nodding about a minute later.

"They may need pendants, I'm unsure. Of course it would be easier to simply leave them here but there's a problem…" She yawned and her companions tried not to look too expectantly at her, "The problem is… My people were the ones in charge of hiding the items for the pendants. They didn't want just anybody breaking into these places and stealing this stuff… They hid it well and set up a series of traps and puzzles that required a couple different species to work together to get it. The two basics of those species are humans and vampires... Lunacorns always wanted them to get over their differences…" She yawned again and rubbed her eyes.

"So, we need the humans to come with us… How unfortunate…" Kain didn't sound unfortunate just incredibly annoyed.

"Yes, unfortuneh-" Sestine's little slurred words were cutoff as she fell asleep. She started to topple but Kain caught her, resting her head against his side as he looked at Raziel.

"Well Sestine sleeps we shall take charge. Her family catacombs are the most logical place to start our search." Raziel dipped his head in acknowledgement and waited quietly for Kain to continue, "From that point we can go in a relatively straight line to the other pieces needed." Once the vampire lord was finished, Raziel slid off the merlon.

"I'll rouse the humans so that we may leave." His golden eyes flicked to the exhausted Sestine, "What of her? Shall we not need her knowledge on this trip?"

"Of course we shall, her knowledge is vast despite her young age. Her wolf will be used as a pack animal so I shall have to carry her until she is fit to walk." Raziel nodded and slipped inside to get the humans, leaving Kain to his thoughts. The vampire lord sighed as he watched the Nosgothian sky change colors in the wake of the setting sun. He hated to admit it but he was actually starting to feel exhausted, not with the day but with the years. He was old and the exhaustion made him feel even older than he was. In the single year that had gone by since the fall of the Elder God, Kain had felt the most at peace and rested he had in years. Not having to plan horrifically confusing things for millenniums to come and instead just simply rest as you watch the world of your younger self pass you by. It had felt nice to not have to worry about anything except the terrible guilt that ate away at what little was left of his conscience. It was times like these that Kain juggled with his ideas to ruin his younger self's empire before it even started. Sayumi had already pulled Raziel's body away from the world, meaning his human form would never be born and the Elder God was locked away in a time-locked prison; all meaning that there was no need for the plan that Kain had used. If he were to stop young Kain now, then he could stop Nosgoth from becoming as corrupted as she had when he was in charge and therefore start to heal quicker than just degrading in a downward spiral. Because now that he was disconnected from Nosgoth, anything bad that happened to his younger self in this timeline wouldn't affect him. He was free to make up for his mistakes. There was so much hope for the future. There was that word again… Hope. Kain frowned and sighed again, he was so tired of trying to think up elaborate plans to restore balance. His mind continued to drift towards ways to ruin young Kain's plans but the thoughts were starting to wear on him. He was beginning to get frustrated when suddenly his mind went blank of all unwanted thoughts as a lovely sound filled his sensitive ears. He looked down at Sestine as she leaned against him; she was humming in her sleep. He had always found it strange how her people could hum in their sleep. It was a pleasant little Nosgothian nursery rhyme that made him feel oddly calm whenever he heard it. He had once let a human woman go if she promised to sing it for a newly-raised fledgling Raziel. She had sung it beautifully and Kain had actually kept his promise, the poor human had run out of there like a mad woman trying to escape while Kain laughed at her. Sestine hummed this song more often once she noticed that Kain was more docile after she would sing it randomly to Wralyx. Often Kain would come back to the castle and find her asleep in his chair humming the song. It was one of those mornings he had come back and asked(demanded really) why she would sing it every two weeks or so; close enough to enjoy but not close enough to get tired of. She had simply blinked sleepily at him and smiled, saying, "Because it makes you happy, you're never happy and I love to see my friends happy." This had hit him awkwardly, he'd never had nor needed friends and he was sure he was pretty lousy company as a human… Friends were the enemy of ambition, all they do was hold you back! …But what about when all your ambition turns to dust because all you've done for years was plan and let your ambition fall away because you already fulfilled it but all it did was hurt the few things you loved? What happens when you're literally stuck in the past and can see the vicious cycle of your painful ambition starting over with someone else but you yourself have nothing to work towards anymore? Now that you have nothing for friendship to get in the way of and you find yourself with a friend you never knew you had, what do you do? Does something as twisted and corrupt as him even deserve friends? He has really grown to enjoy her company…. He can yell at and insult her and all she does is do it right back; it's oddly refreshing to meet a creature that at least tries to stand against him. They had become close in the past year, close enough that he no longer stayed with her just because he was using her powers and skills.

Kain sighed and shook his head, these thoughts were getting too sappy for his taste; he had to go kill something. Where in the name of Nosgoth was Raziel and those humans?!

~H~T~

There was an angry growl of frustration as dirt and rocks went flying with a kick.

"You _will_ tell me which way it is to Coorhagen!" Runekin yelled as he clenched his fists in anger. The only reply he got from Sayumi was a snort as she crossed her arms and rolled her eyes at him. She was secretly laughing at him on the inside for being so unprepared.

"Why should I tell you? It's not like you can do anything to me unless you want to ruin your plans or have all of Nosgoth fall apart around you…" She let out a tiny yawn and pulled an apple out of the pocket in her dress. Her careless attitude only making Runekin's anger rise to the point where he was grimacing and had a severe eye twitch.

"Tell me or!" He stops to grab one of his men that are nearby and puts the sharp point of a hunter's knife to his throat, "I'll slice open his throat!" Despite the look of pure fear in the hostage's eyes, Sayumi simply yawned again like she was uninterested.

"Why should I care if you kill him? He's not from my realm…." Truth was, she was terrified for the man's life but several millenniums of watching her two favorite guardians fake not caring about someone had helped her perfect her 'I really don't care' face. She started to play with a little toad that had hoped into her lap, completely at ease with her as if it knew who she was. She smirked at the toad as she heard a 'GRAH!' from Runekin as he threw his hostage to the ground physically unharmed.

"You know, grown men shouldn't have tantrums….." She says, placing a dead grasshopper she found in the toad's mouth, "And cursing is so unbecoming…" She mocked him calmly as he threw his hands in the air and started swearing. It was going to be a long trip….

"Fine! I'll just have to go find somebody that is from this stupid world!"

~H~T~

It had felt like forever but they finally on their way… Apparently the humans had had some trouble packing up and Raziel had just been waiting for them. It was a long trek for the humans down Sestine's tall castle. Their voices were driving Kain insane as he was forced to listen to them commentary on every little detail of the castle. The only one that was quiet was the one that Raziel seemed to be giving special treatment to; if almost completely ignoring her instead of fully ignoring her like he did for the others was special treatment. Kain's nerves were getting on edge and he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to keep from slaughtering them all if it wasn't for Sestine. The sleeping lunacorn was humming against his chest as he held her with one arm. He was happy beyond words when they finally made it out of the castle and into the woods. Night was falling over the land, a deathly chill passed over the land as the darkness fell. A look passed between Kain and Raziel, they both knew it was subconsciously Sayumi speaking her feelings through Nosgoth. Kain took the lead with Wralyx walking between him and the humans then Raziel was protecting the rear. The vampires were moving much slower than they wanted through the forest but they both knew that humans were slow walkers and tire easily if you force them to run for long periods of time. Kain tried to make himself focus on the forest around him, the catacombs should be just a few miles from that horrific city that held Raziel captive. Suddenly, there was a soft cough beside him. Causing him to glare downward to find the human Josh staring up at him.

"Ugh.. Ugh.. Sorry to disturb you." Josh stumbled for the right words, all his military training flew out the window when standing next to this, this… This thing! A vampire, it was impossible!

"What do you want?" The growl made Josh jump slightly but he pressed on.

"Well, uhm… These catacombs, exactly what are we going up against here so that I can prepare my team." Kain had to admit that he could admire a leader who actually prepared its troops.

"Lunacorns were historians and often picked guards that matched the history of the place they were guarding. Since these are catacombs, you can expect there to be various types of undead there…" Kain said it so plainly, like is was the most normal thing in the world. The words hit Josh like a sock to the face….


	16. Chapter 15

A/N: *cough*Lame filler chapter*cough*

Chapter 15

Wralyx grunted as he sat down in the tall grass watching the humanoids. They were finally at the catacombs, it had taken hours when traveling with the humans but they had gotten here. The wolf shook his head as he watched the humans, sit around awkwardly as they rested. Taking his attention off that, he looked at the entrance to the catacombs. It was a small mausoleum, crafted by stone and guarded by a magic puzzle. He watched Raziel look over the puzzle, his quick eyes starting to pick apart the puzzle as he looked it over. Wralyx raised his head, looking for his master. Kain had to leave for a bit, the humans getting on his nerves but he had left Sestine somewhere. She would be safe and that's all that mattered. Huffing slightly, the wolf decided to get some sleep before he was needed again; he feared what would become of this little adventure.

Raziel hummed slightly as he raised his hand to a moveable piece of stone connected to the door.

"Hiya." He hissed as the sudden distraction caused his train of thought to slither away. Amber eyes looked sideways through ebony bangs and down to see Foxie standing next to him.

"Is there some matter I can assist you in, captain…..?" The tone was slightly bitter and growled slightly in the back of his throat. Foxie clearly heard it but chose to ignore it.

"Not really, just came to see what you were up to." She leaned closer, looking at the long lines and looping circles on the stone's face. Raziel sighed in frustration, he knew he could simply ignore her but that would only encourage her to ask more questions.

"This puzzle is the lock to the entrance of this mausoleum, and therefore our only means of attaining entrance." He stated logically, slightly confused to see the look of mirth on her face.

"My… You like usin' a lot of big words to say somethin' so simple. You coulda just said you were unlocking the door." She smirked up at him as she ducked under his arm to get between him and the door. She frowned slightly at the lock, "Why not imply smash the door in? It's only stone."

"Stone it may be but it is protected by magical barrier." He slammed his foot into the stone beside her, it didn't crack but a strange wave of energy rippled out from the area, "Unless the lock has been undone, the barrier will remain intact and denying access."

Foxie jumped slightly at the resounding clang of Raziel's boot slamming into the door. She found it slightly disturbing that the thing didn't even come close to budging considering how strong the vampire's legs looked. Trying to regain her posture, this world was too strange, she asked another question.

"So, do you know what kinda puzzle it is?" She reached out a hand to touch it but hesitated, "Is it dangerous?"

"It's a mechanism puzzle."

"Oh! Like a Chinese puzzle box!"

"…"

"Hehe, sorry, carry on."

"It has several pieces that move. You simply have to find the right ones in the right order." Raziel pressed on the piece his fingers were touching; a clicking sound could be heard as the piece became unlocked and ready to move. He turned it counter clockwise and pressed in again, it popped back up into place; it's swirling design matching up it a non-moving piece of the puzzle. Foxie watched in wonder as he continued to move the different pieces; some of them sliding to different places while others simply needed to be turned a different. It took a good ten minutes to get them all in the right places and have all the tumblers fall into place. Foxie looked on in amazement; the picture was that of a tree that had its branches twisting forward to grasp a scythe. The scythe's engravement was much deeper than the rest. She pressed it experimentally but it didn't budge.

"I don't understand. Shouldn't be open now?"

"No."

"Really? Why not?"

"This is simply the locking mechanism. In order for it to be unlocked, you need the proper key." Raziel looked it over, searching for the hints at what the key may be. As he looked at the scythe it came to him, "Give me your knife." The captain gave him a weird look but gave it to him anyways; maybe he needed it to pry the door open. She gasped in horror as he took the knife, turned over his empty hand and stabbed the blade into it.

"What the heck are you doing?!" She snatched the knife out of his hand as she took his bleeding hand in hers and put pressure on the wound. It felt weird to her, his skin was smooth and deathly cold and his blood felt like ice water.

"I have located the key and I am retrieving it. That is what I am doing." He replied as he yanked his hand back from her.

"What are you talking about?"

"Blood."

"Blood?"

"Yes. Let me demonstrate for you, captain." He turned back to the door; he placed his hand over the place where the tree held the scythe. Blood leaked from his palm and down the engravement of the scythe. He pressed down, a section of tree around the scythe in a perfect circle dipped into the door. He kept it pressed down as he turned it, the blood leaking down the pole of the weapon and dripped down to pool in the blade. As the blade filled entirely, a red energy rippled across the door and the stone opened inward.

"Oh my gawd! That was amazing! How'd you figure that out?!" Raziel sighed as she chirped in awe.

"Simple. The puzzle's design told me everything I needed to know; the engravement was deepest on the scythe and there is a small layer of glass over the blade. Blood is a common element in magic and the scythe used as a weapon is often drenched in blood." Foxie stared in amazement, looking between him and the open door. Raziel sighed and turned away, going to find Kain and tell him the door was open.


End file.
